Clinical spectrum of porphyria cutanea tarda

The term porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) refersto a group of disorders biochemically charca-terized by reduced activity of uroporphyrino-gen decarboxylase in liver and, in familial cases, in a number of tissues and cells including erythrocytes with subsequent accumulation of uroporphyrin and other porphyrins in organs and tissues.1,2 The pres-ence of oxidized porphyrins in the skin adsorbing long ultraviolet and visible light, is responsible for the main clinical features of PCT. Clinically, PCT is a photosensitivity disorder without the neurologic signs of precursor porphyrias diseases.3 The most common variety of PCT is the sporadic or acquired form in which there is a predisposition to acquire the liver enzymatic defect which develops in response to different triggering exogenous factors. The patients are usually adults and they have no fam