Abstract
We observed the promoting effects of the 2940-nm erbium:YAG (Er:YAG) fractional laser in topical drug delivery for psoriasis. A total of five (four males and one female) recalcitrant psoriasis patients were given laser treatment eight times at 1-week intervals with the following parameters: 5–11% spot density and 100-μm energy depth. The psoriatic skin lesions on the left knee and the corresponding lesions at the right ones of each psoriasis patient were randomly divided into two groups: laser + topical drug group (L) and drug alone group (D). The psoriatic lesions in both groups were treated with the same topical treatment (calcipotriol ointment). The corresponding psoriatic lesions in the L group received extra 2940-nm Er:YAG laser irradiation before topical treatment. The photos of psoriatic lesions were taken before each treatment. The final photos were obtained from the patients at the seventh day after the final treatment. Drug alone or in combination with laser Er:YAG both reduced psoriatic lesions. However, with the increase in the number of treatments, increasing differences were observed between the treatment and the control sides. The therapeutic outcomes in the L groups were better than those in the D groups. Psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) scores for five cases of both groups were decreased. However, the scores in the L groups were lower than those in the D groups. The use of 2940 nm Er:YAG promoted the absorption of topical drugs for psoriasis, improving the therapeutic effect.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to Mr. Shaoli Cheng (Medicine School of Xi’an Jiaotong University, China) in critically revising the manuscript. This study was supported by a grant of Project of Natural Science Foundation Research Project of Shaanxi Province (2016JM8124)
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All authors were involved in drafting the article or revising it critically, and all authors approved the final version to be published.
Study conception and design: Ruilian Li, Shengxiang Xiao, and Huiqun Ma
Acquisition of data: Ruilian Li, Jun Zhou, Hui Su, Mei Wang, and Yongxian Wang
Analysis and interpretation of data: Jun Zhou, Hui Su, Mei Wang, and Yongxian Wang
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This study was approved by the medical ethics committee of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, China. Informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to the study.
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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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Li, R., Zhou, J., Su, H. et al. 2940-nm Er:YAG fractional laser enhanced the effect of topical drug for psoriasis. Lasers Med Sci 32, 1393–1397 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-017-2259-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-017-2259-x