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HAROLD N. COLE, Jr., M.D.

AMA Arch Derm. 1959;80(6):788-791.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

The use of crude coal tar as a useful adjunct in the treatment of cutaneous disease was first reported by Fischel¹ in 1894. One of its earliest staunch proponents in this country was C. J. White,² who found it to be of great value in a wide variety of conditions.

However, to the present day, the exact manner in which tar acts upon the diseased skin is unknown. In animal experimentation tar is known to produce epidermal proliferation, and yet dermatologically tars are employed to reduce hyperkeratosis, parakeratosis, and acanthosis. Rothman and Shapiro³ would explain this seeming discrepancy by the fact that tar initially has a suppressing action on the rete pegs and dermal papillae.

Coal tar has long been recognized as causing sensitization of the skin to ultraviolet rays. Goeckerman⁴ originally used this principle with excellent results in psoriasis. This sensitizing . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
Cleveland

Footnotes
Submitted for publication Aug. 10, 1959.

Department of Dermatology, Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland.

Read before the 79th Annual Meeting of the American Dermatological Association, Inc., Atlantic City, N.J., June 4, 1959.

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