Dynamic Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging of Telangiectasia Prior to Intense Pulsed Light Treatment-An Opportunity to Target Treatment?

Attempted treatment of primary axillary hyperhidrosis with one session of either Neodymium YAG laser or Intense Pulsed Light: A within patient randomized trial of treated versus untreated contralateral axilla

BACKGROUND

Primary axillary hyperhidrosis (PAH) affects 1-5% of the world's population who has an unmet need for improved treatments. The heating of sweat glands with specific microwave therapy has shown promising results, yet, treatment with widely available devices such as long-pulsed Neodymium Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (Nd:YAG) lasers, diode lasers or Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) may serve as pragmatic alternatives.

OBJECTIVES

To compare sweat secretion of treated versus untreated contralateral control axilla 1-3 months after one session of Nd:YAG laser or IPL in patients with PAH.

METHODS

A within-person randomized controlled trial. Patients were randomized to receive either one session of Nd:YAG laser or IPL in one axilla with the contra-lateral serving as control. Sweat production was assessed by gravimetry, trans-epidermal water loss, hyperhidrosis disease severity scale and dynamic optical coherence tomography. Mixed-effects models were used to handle the within-person design, containing both fixed effect factors (side, group, and subgroup), and random effects (patients), while also adjusting for the level at baseline.

RESULTS

A total of 20 patients were enrolled. At follow-up 1-3 months after treatment, sweat secretion was not affected in the treated axilla when compared to the control axillae (0.01 [95%CI: -0.04 to 0.05]; p = 0.68). In the Nd:YAG subgroup (10 patients), least squares means for sweat secretion was 0.18 mg/5 min in the treated versus 0.15 mg/5 min in the control axilla, respectively, corresponding to a statistically insignificant mean difference of 0.02 mg/5 min (95% CI: -0.06 to 0.11; p = 0.54). In the IPL subgroup (10 patients), sweat secretion was 0.06 mg/5 min in the treated axilla versus 0.07 mg/5 min in the control axilla with a statistically insignificant difference of -0.01 points (95% CI: -0.03 to 0.02; p = 0.46). Likewise, none of the secondary outcomes were significantly affected by treatment. However, both treatments appeared safe and well tolerated with no adverse effects reported at follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

One treatment with external 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser or 640 nm IPL at commercially available settings, failed to demonstrate clinical benefit in treating PAH, with narrow confidence intervals implying that this was not due to a type-2 error.

Managing Severe Evaporative Dry Eye with Intense Pulsed Light Therapy

INTRODUCTION

This study assessed the efficacy and safety of intense pulsed light (IPL) therapy in participants with severe evaporative dry eye disease (DED).

METHODS

This randomized, controlled, single-center study included 49 adult participants (≥ 18 years) with severe evaporative DED who received either IPL therapy (n = 56 eyes) or sham therapy (n = 42 eyes) three times. The primary efficacy parameters were ocular surface disease index (OSDI) score, non-invasive tear breakup time (NITBUT), tear film lipid layer (TFLL), conjunctivocorneal staining score (CS), MG Score, meibomian gland (MG) quality, and MG expression score.

RESULTS

The mean ages for the IPL group and the control group were 28.05 ± 3.41 years (57.1% female) and 28.14 ± 3.53 years (52.4% female), respectively. Comparison between the IPL group and the control group found significant differences in the mean OSDI score (22.16 ± 6.08 vs. 42.38 ± 6.60; P < 00.01), NITBUT (6.27 ± 0.84 vs. 3.86 ± 0.68; P < 0.001), TFLL (2.14 ± 0.44 vs. 3.45 ± 0.50; P < 0.001), MG Score (1.34 ± 0.55 vs. 1.88 ± 0.33; P < 0.001), MG quality (1.59 ± 0.07 vs. 2.67 ± 0.08), and MG expression (1.54 ± 0.57 vs. 2.45 ± 0.55) at 12 weeks follow-up; however, there was no significant difference in CS (3.32 ± 1.11 vs. 3.74 ± 1.04; P = 0.063).

CONCLUSION

The findings suggest that IPL therapy is clinically beneficial in ameliorating the signs and symptoms of severe evaporative dry eye disease.

[Advances in optical coherence tomography]

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been able to establish itself in recent years not only in academic-scientific, but also in everyday dermatological practice. Its focus lies on epithelial tumors of the skin, which can be diagnosed intuitively and within a few seconds. Thus, basal cell carcinomas, actinic keratoses, and different stages of field cancerization can be diagnosed and monitored for response to therapy or possible recurrence. This often helps to avoid invasive sample extraction. Recently, the field of OCT and its latest advancement, dynamic OCT (D-OCT), has been expanded to include non-oncologic dermatological diseases. This encompasses inflammatory dermatoses and the analysis of physiological skin parameters such as hydration. Thanks to automated vascular imaging and the measurement of objective parameters such as epidermal thickness, blood flow at depth, optical attenuation coefficient, and skin roughness, more and more characteristics of the skin can be studied in a noninvasive and standardized way. New potential areas of application are eczema, contact allergic dermatitis, psoriasis, rosacea, telangiectasia, acute and chronic wounds, melasma and nevus flammeus but also melanocytic lesions.

Light-Based Devices for the Treatment of Facial Erythema and Telangiectasia

Facial erythema is one of the most common outpatient complaints in dermatology. There are various causes of facial erythema and several devices are available for its treatment. Pulsed dye laser (PDL) and intense pulsed light (IPL) are the two common light devices used for these conditions. In this review, we evaluated the literature to assess efficacy of IPL versus PDL in facial erythema and telangiectasia. We searched published articles including clinical trials or reviews articles, case series, and case reports. Electronic databases (MEDLINE and PubMed) were searched to retrieve the articles. Reference lists of selected articles were also considered for the review. Articles published in English language until June 2021 were considered for this review.

Intense Pulsed Light as a Treatment for Senile Purpura: A Pilot Study

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Senile purpura is a common condition characterized by recurrent ecchymoses in the elderly on the extensor surfaces of the forearms, hands, and legs. Our objective is to assess the efficacy and safety of a protocol using intense pulsed light (BBL; Sciton Inc., Palo Alto, CA) to improve the appearance of senile purpura on subjects' extensor forearms.

STUDY DESIGN/MATERIALS AND METHODS

Five subjects over 65 years of age, with ecchymotic lesions measuring over 1 cm on each forearm and five younger subjects under 35 years of age, without any ecchymotic lesions, were included in the study. The subjects were treated on one randomized forearm with a new intense pulsed light protocol for four weekly sessions. Photographs and subject questionnaires were taken weekly before each treatment as well as 1 month after all treatments. Skin biopsies were taken 1 day after the last of four weekly treatments. Histological analysis, including hematoxylin and eosin, elastic van Gieson, and Masson's Trichrome staining, were carried out to assess both the epidermal thickness and dermal connective tissue structure. The protocol consists of multiple passes using an intense pulsed light (BBL; Sciton Inc.) device in which the wavelength, filter, and fluence are adjusted for each step. Step 1 uses infrared light (800-1,400 nm), high intensity, a smooth adapter, and a constant motion technique. Step 2 employs a 590-nm filter with two different fluences and step 3 utilizes a 560-nm filter. The fluence of steps 2-3 is increased by 1 J each treatment if no side effects are noted.

RESULTS

Using a new intense pulsed light protocol in subjects with senile purpura, both the number and square area of ecchymoses on the treated arm were significantly reduced (P = 0.02 and P = 0.04, respectively, paired t test) as compared with the untreated arm at 1 month after four weekly treatments. Despite this pilot study including challenging cases of subjects on both inhaled and injected corticosteroids and blood thinners, all subjects with senile purpura had at least a 50% reduction in the total square area of their ecchymoses on their treated arm. There were no significant or long-lasting side effects, and all subjects reported satisfaction with the treatment with a desire to continue treatments on their control arm. Blinded evaluators were able to select 100% of the time in the subjects with senile purpura, which was the treated arm as compared with the control arm when reviewing photographs from 1 month after the last treatment. In addition, several subjects were noted to have a significant improvement in the appearance of hemosiderin deposition and photodamage. Histologically, intense pulsed light treatments significantly increased epidermal thickness in elderly subjects by 21.14% (P = 0.0153, two-tailed, paired t test), to levels comparable with young subjects. Such restoration is consistent with the other histological observations by blinded evaluators of more abundant and organized collagen fibers in the dermis and reduced aggregates of disorganized elastin fibers.

CONCLUSION

This new intense pulsed light protocol is safe and effective in improving the clinical appearance of senile purpura as well as preventing future lesions by improving the structure of the skin by increasing epidermal thickness and improving collagen and elastic fiber morphology. The treatment was well-tolerated, adverse effects were minimal, and there was high patient satisfaction. Lasers Surg. Med. 2020. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC.