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Laser treatment of pigmented lesions in clinical practice: a retrospective case series and patient satisfaction survey
Author(s) -
Hague J. S.,
Lanigan S. W.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
clinical and experimental dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1365-2230
pISSN - 0307-6938
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2230.2007.02574.x
Subject(s) - medicine , retrospective cohort study , patient satisfaction , surgery , nevus , clinical practice , dermatology , physical therapy , melanoma , cancer research
Summary Lasers are frequently used to treat pigmented skin lesions; however, there is little published data from routine clinical practice. We performed a retrospective review of patients treated between January 2003 and January 2004 to describe the patients, methods used and the clinical outcome. The long‐term result was determined by a patient questionnaire. In total, 67 patients with 76 pigmented lesions were treated (22 males and 45 females, mean age 22 years); 27% had Fitzpatrick skin types IV–VI. The Q‐switched Nd:YAG, and erbium:YAG lasers were used in 75% and 24% of cases, respectively, with an average of 5.4 treatments/patient. The physician‐rated outcome at the end of treatment was ‘very positive’ in 45% and ‘mostly positive’ in 30% of cases. The patient‐rated outcome at an average of 21 months post‐treatment was ‘excellent’ in 29.5%, ‘good’ in 25%, and ‘fair’ in 22.7% of the 44 cases. About 50% of patients with the three most common lesions (congenital naevi, other/unspecified naevi and naevus of Ota) achieved good or excellent long‐term results.