Know About Polymorphous light eruption

Polymorphous light eruption or PLE is the commonest form of photosensitivity disease after exposure to sun. The exact mechanism of development of PLE is not clearly known. Most of the individuals who suffer from PLE never seek medical attention due to the fact that PLE is often transient, which generally manifest at the initial exposure to sun during spring and then subsides spontaneously if the individual continue exposure to sun, which is known as “hardening” in common language. Most of the individual think and accept “hardening” as a natural phenomena after exposure to sun and accept it as natural and do not seek medical attention.

Manifestations of polymorphous light eruption:

The manifestations of polymorphous light eruption are itching (sometimes very severe itching), erythematous papules and these papules may form plaques which are distributed over the sun exposed areas of body like trunk and forearms. Generally face is not involved in PLE and if involved the manifestations are usually mild.

How to diagnose polymorphous light eruption?

The diagnosis of polymorphous light eruption can be made (confirmed) by skin biopsy and also by performing phototest procedures (in these phototest procedures skin is exposed to multiple erythema doses of UV-A and UV-B). In phototest procedures the spectrum for PLE is generally same as that of solar spectrum.

How to treat polymorphous light eruption?

Polymorphous light eruption is treated with the use of sunscreens. It can also be treated with cautious administration of artificial UV-B (ultra violet-B) broad-band or narrow-band and/or UV-A (ultra violet-A) radiation for 2 to 3 weeks prior to initial exposure to sun to produce “hardening”.