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Laser treatment of solar elastosis with epithelial preservation
Author(s) -
Muccini J. A.,
O'Donnell F. E.,
Fuller T.,
Reinisch L.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
lasers in surgery and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1096-9101
pISSN - 0196-8092
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-9101(1998)23:3<121::aid-lsm1>3.0.co;2-r
Subject(s) - medicine , dermatology
Background and Objective: Laser resurfacing has gained wide acceptance for the treatment of actinic facial skin. However, postoperative care of the face is reasonably complicated and prolonged erythema is common. To simplify the postoperative care and to possibly reduce the duration of the erythema, we investigated a laser treatment that spares the epithelium. Study Design/Materials and Methods: A 980 nm diode laser was used with a spherical optic handpiece to focus the light in the dermis. We treated in vitro breast and facial skin and measured the tissue shrinkage and the histological changes. We also treated two patients and harvested the tissue after 6 and 21 days of wound healing. Results The diode laser treatment does not ablate the epidermis. The tissue shows shrinkage (16% at 8W) similar to three passes of the scanned carbon dioxide laser treatment (15%). Thermal damage in the dermis is similar to the residual damage left after laser resurfacing with the scanned carbon dioxide laser. After 21 days the tissue shows new collagen and an abundance of young elastin fibers. Conclusions These investigations indicate that solar elastosis in skin can be treated with the 980 nm diode laser while preserving the epithelial layer. Lasers Surg. Med. 23:121–127, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.