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 Printable version |
Treatment of congenital nevi with the Q-switched Alexandrite laser |
European Journal of Dermatology. Volume 15, Number 2, 92-6, March-April 2005, Therapy
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 Free Article
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Author(s) : Sangeun Kim, Won Hyoung Kang |
Summary : Q-switched mode lasers have been utilized for treatment of many pigmentary lesions. Because of their short pulse durations (1-100 ns), these lasers selectively destroy pigment laden cells while sparing the surrounding normal tissues. To determine if the Q-switched alexanderite laser (QSAL) is effective in the treatment of congenital melanocytic nevi, 53 patients with these lesions were treated with QSAL\; of these, 16 also received CO
2 laser treatment between QSAL treatments. We observed an average improvement score in the 53 treated patients of 2.623 + 1.13, corresponding to a 72% improvement. Treatment with the combination of QSAL and a CO
2 laser resulted in a significant enhancement of improvement score (3.06 ± 1.18) compared to patients treated with the QSAL alone (2.43 ± 1.07\; p \= 0.0393). Complications were mild, with 35 nevi (67.3%) showing textural change of skin after treatment, 2 (3.8%) showing depressed scar formation, and 4 (7.5%) showing hypertrophic changes, while 12 nevi (23%) showed no changes. Hypopigmentation was observed in 16 patients (30%), and hyperpigmentation was observed in 15 patients (28%) 48 weeks after the final QSAL treatment. Repigmentation to a brown to black spot was observed in 44/53 (83%) patients within an average of 5.45 ± 3.93 months. These results indicate that the QSAL was as effective as other Q switch mode lasers in the treatment of congenital melanocytic nevi, but repigmentation is a problem. |
Keywords : congenital nevi, q-switched, Alexandrite, laser (QSAL), CO
2 laser |
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