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Low density, non‐ablative fractional CO 2 laser rejuvenation
Author(s) -
Christiansen Kaare,
Bjerring Peter
Publication year - 2008
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/lsm.20660
Subject(s) - ablative case , rejuvenation , medicine , hyperpigmentation , nuclear medicine , energy density , intense pulsed light , scars , laser , surgery , dermatology , optics , radiation therapy , physics , theoretical physics
Abstract Background and Objectives Fractional skin rejuvenation has gained increased interest since its introduction in 2003. Both non‐ablative and ablative lasers as well as different treatment techniques have been devised. Recent clinical studies indicate that a paradigm of low spot density combined with high fluences tend to produce better clinical results and less risk of post‐inflammatory hyperpigmentation in darker skin types. The present study is focused on investigations of the clinical outcome by non‐ablative fractional CO 2 treatments with a single pass with low spot density. Methods and Materials A CO 2 laser was equipped with a scanner enabling it to perform fractional treatments with 36, 64 or 100 microthermal zones (MTZ)/cm 2 . Twelve patients participated in the study. The perioral area was treated three times with 1‐month intervals using a spot density of 64 MTZ/cm 2 , a spot diameter of 0.5 mm, a micro‐beam energy of 36–60 mJ, and a pulse duration of 3–5 milliseconds. Follow‐up was performed 3 months after the last treatment. Results At the 3‐month follow‐up 72.7% of the volunteers had obtained improvement in ultrasonographically determined dermal density, and the average improvement was 40.2% (SD: 48.0%). This improvement was statistically significant ( P <0.006). Eighty percent of the volunteers rated the reduction in visible perioral wrinkles to be fair, good or excellent. For reduction of irregular pigmentation, fair, good or excellent clearance was reported by 62.5% of the volunteers. Conclusions The present study demonstrates subjective improvements in wrinkles, skin texture and mottled pigmentation as well as statistically significant objectively measured improvements in ultrasonographical dermal density after three non‐ablative fractional CO 2 laser treatments. Lesers Surg. Med. 40:454–460, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.