Abstract

Objectives: 1. Examine the benefit of pulsed dye laser treatment for adult female acne 2. Investigate the effect of pulsed dye laser treatment on inflammatory acne lesions (papules and pustules) 3. Investigate the effect of pulsed dye laser treatment on non-inflammatory acne lesions (open/closed comedones) 4. Investigate the effect of pulsed dye laser treatment on post-inflammatory lesions (red and brown macules) Introduction: An increasing number of adult females have persistent inflammatory acne for many years, with an estimated prevalence of 12 to 54% in the USA. The 595-nm pulsed dye laser (PDL) has been successful in treating inflammatory acne in adolescents, however clinical data examining the benefit of PDL therapy for adult females, who have other etiologic factors, are lacking. In this prospective, IRB-approved, real-world clinical trial, we evaluated the benefit of 595 nm PDL treatment in adult females with longstanding acne who failed to improve with conventional medical therapy. Materials / method: Healthy adult females with inflammatory acne were enrolled and maintained on their medical therapy. Subjects received up to 4 monthly PDL treatments, with follow up (FU) visits and 1 and 3-months. Acne lesion counts (papules, pustules, and comedones) and standardized digital images were obtained at each visit. Investigator global assessment (IGA) scores for acne severity (0=clear to 5=very severe) were recorded at 1 and 3-month FU visits. Improvement of post-inflammatory pigment alteration (PIPA) was based on photographic comparison to baseline (0=no change to 4=significant improvement). Results: 15 subjects (FST I-IV, mean age 27) were treated with the PDL (10 mm, 5.5-10 J/cm2, 3-10 ms, cryogen spray cooling 30/20 ms). Mild erythema and edema were observed after treatment and there were no adverse events. IGA scores improved significantly at 1 and 3 month FU visits (p< 0.05, Wilcoxon signed rank test for paired data), with an average decrease of 1.8 and 1.9, respectively, from a baseline score of 3.5. Inflammatory and non-inflammatory lesions counts were significantly (p< 0.05) reduced from baseline at both 1- and 3-month FU visits. PIPA improved in all subjects at 3-month FU visit. Conclusion: Our results suggest that the PDL is an effective modality for the treatment of adult female inflammatory acne. The treatment was well tolerated and there were no occurrences of adverse events.