Recently novel picosecond duration lasers (ps-lasers) have been developed for the treatment of multicolored and recalcitrant tattoos, and safety and efficacy have been reported. We therefore hypothesized that the ps-laser could be an alternative treatment for dermal pigmented lesions and performed a retrospective review to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the ps-laser. A retrospective photographic review of 10 patients with dermal pigmented lesions was performed (ages from 4 months to 52 yr), 6 nevus of Ota, 3 ectopic Mongolian spots and 1 Mongolian spots. The patients were treated in the Ohshiro Clinic with picosecond 755 nm alexandrite laser (ps-Alex laser) and picosecond 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser (ps-Nd:YAG laser) from April 2014 to December 2015 (ps-Alex laser, 7 patients; ps-Nd:YAG laser, 3 patients, 1 to 3 treatment sessions). Improvement was evaluated as percentage of pigmentation clearance comparing the baseline findings with those at 3 months after the final treatment using a five category grading scale: Poor, 0-24%; Fair, 25-49%; Good, 50-74%; Excellent, 75-94%; and Complete, 95-100% improvement. Adverse events were also assessed. All ten patients obtained clinical improvement ranging from fair to excellent. Treatment with the ps-Alex laser caused transient hyperpigmentation followed by improvement to complete resolution at 3 months follow-up. The ps-Nd:YAG laser caused severe transient erythema and swelling but no post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. Our results suggest that the 755 nm and 1064 nm ps-lasers are efficacious for the treatment of dermal pigment lesions, with minimum adverse events.
Our results in this single case strongly suggest that the novel 755-nm ps-Alex laser is both safe and very effective for the treatment of type 2 minocycline-induced hyperpigmentation even in PIH-prone type IV Asian skin. Further trials with larger patient populations are warranted to confirm this optimistic result.
Recently in Japan, the trend towards females marrying later in life than before has increased the average age of women bearing children for the first time. The number of children being born in Japan has steadily decreased for the 26 th straight year and has become a grave socio-economical concern for the future. Artificial reproductive technology (ART) has shown advances in the past two decades, however there are no new solutions to the old problem of age. The authors have previously reported the efficacy of low reactive level laser therapy (LLLT) for the adjunctive treatment of refractory female infertility and will report a new method of LLLT, incorporating the Proximal Priority Treatment (PPT) with the use of novel device named the Neck Irradiator. A retrospective survey of patients receiving PPT with the Neck Irradiator showed that approximately 10% of the patients became pregnant with this treatment. The authors compare and contrast this new treatment with previous treatment modalities and will discuss LLLT for the treatment of female infertility.
We report two treatment strategies using intralesional laser photocoagulation (ILP) for large venous malformations (VMs) in the oral cavity. ILP is considered to be an effective technique for massive vascular lesion. The satisfactory results could have been obtained, since we started ILP for the treatment of large VMs. Recently, to improve the safety, reliability, and effectiveness of the treatment, we developed modifications of ILP that include a combination of ILP and transmucosal irradiation; and compartmentalization and serial step irradiation. In the former, ILP is performed for a deep layer lesion and transmucosal irradiation with multiple spots fashioned using a single pulse is added for the superficial layer in the same session, to increase the efficacy of regression. In the latter, the lesion is divided by virtual compartment and each area will be sequentially treated by ILP. The irradiated area and total energy in a session should be limited to avoid severe reactions and excessive thermal destruction of surrounding tissue. All treatment outcomes by each technique were satisfactory without serious complications, such as deep ulcer formation, bleeding, or severe swelling developing obstruction. Both treatment strategies improve the safety, reliability, and effectiveness of ILP and make the method less traumatic for patients.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.