Pulsed dye laser treatment of rosacea using a novel 15mm diameter treatment beam

• Published in: Lasers in surgery and medicine Vol. 50; no. 8; pp. 808 - 812
• Main Authors: Bernstein, Eric F, Schomacker, Kevin, Paranjape, Amit, Jones, Christopher J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-10-2018
• Subjects: Blood vessels; Bruising; Curved beams; Dyes; Edema; Erythema; Laser beams; Lasers; Rosacea; Side effects; Surgery
• ISSN: 0196-8092; 1096-9101
• DOI: 10.1002/lsm.22819

BackgroundThe pulsed‐dye laser has been used to treat facial redness and rosacea for decades. Recent advances in dye laser technology enable 50% higher output energies supporting 50% larger treatment areas, and beam‐diameters up to 15 mm with clinically‐relevant fluences. In this study, we investigate this novel pulsed‐dye laser using a 15 mm diameter beam for treatment of rosacea.MethodsTwenty subjects with erythemato‐telangiectatic rosacea were enrolled in the study. A total of 4 monthly treatments were administered, first treating linear vessels with a 3 × 10 mm elliptical beam, then diffuse redness with a 15‐mm diameter circular beam. Blinded assessment of digital, cross‐polarized photographs taken 2 months following the last treatment was performed using an 11‐point clearance scale.ResultsNineteen subjects completed the study. Blinded reviewers correctly identified baseline photos in 55 out of the total of 57 images (96.5%). The blinded reviewers scored 17 of the 19 subjects with an improvement greater than 40%, and 11 of the 19 subjects greater than 50%. The average improvement was 53.9%. Side effects were limited to mild edema, mild to moderate erythema, and mild to moderate bruising.ConclusionThis study demonstrates that a newly designed pulsed‐dye laser having a novel 15‐mm diameter treatment beam improves the appearance of rosacea with a favorable safety profile. Lasers Surg. Med. 50:808–812, 2018. © 2018 The Authors. Lasers in Surgery and Medicine Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.