Photodynamic Therapy with Ablative Carbon Dioxide Fractional Laser in Treatment of Actinic Keratosis.
- Author:
Yong Hyun JANG
1
;
Dong Jun LEE
;
Jaeyoung SHIN
;
Hee Young KANG
;
Eun So LEE
;
You Chan KIM
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords: Actinic keratosis; Carbon dioxide lasers; Photochemotherapy
- MeSH: Actins*; Carbon Dioxide*; Carbon*; Humans; Keratosis, Actinic*; Lasers, Gas; Photochemotherapy*; Triazenes
- From:Annals of Dermatology 2013;25(4):417-422
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: BACKGROUND: Recently, photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been shown to be an effective first-line treatment for actinic keratosis (AK). However, a major limitation of PDT is the long incubation time required to allow penetration of the photosensitizer. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess if pretreatment with an ablative carbon dioxide (CO2) fractional laser can reduce the incubation time of the photosensitizer. METHODS: Initially, 29 patients with a total of 34 AK lesions were treated with an ablative CO2 fractional laser at Ajou University Hospital between January and December 2010. Immediately after the laser treatment, topical 20% 5-aminolevulinic acid or methyl-aminolevulinate was applied to the AK lesions and incubated for 70 to 90 minutes. Then, the treated areas were illuminated with a red light source. Improvement was clinically or histologically assessed eight weeks after the treatment. RESULTS: In spite of the short incubation time, 24 lesions (70.6%) showed a complete response (CR) within three sessions of PDT (10 lesions a clinical CR and 14 lesions a clinical/histological CR). There were no significant side effects associated with the combination of ablative CO2 fractional laser and PDT. CONCLUSION: Ablative CO2 fractional laser may be considered an additional treatment option for reducing the incubation time of the photosensitizer in PDT.
