Assessment of Removal of Solar Lentigines by Intense Pulsed Light

Journal of Pan-Arab League of Dermatologists
Vol. 20, No. 1, February 2009  Page 9- 20

Assessment of Removal of Solar Lentigines by Intense Pulsed Light
Eman Hamed Ezzat Elmorsy, Ahmed Mohammed Mehesen and Wessam Rashad Abd -Elazim
Department of Dermatology and Andrology, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University

 Abstract

Solar lentigo is a macular area of brown pigmentationappearing after either acute orchronic sun exposure. It is the mostcommonbenign sun-induced lesion that occurs in sunexposedareas. Patients frequently requesttreatment because of the largesize and unsightlyappearance of some actinic lentigines.For the specific treatment of individual lesions,the options includetopical agents, chemicalpeeling, cryotherapy, dermabrasion and phototherapywith various lasers or intense pulsedlight (IPL)systemsThe study was planned to assess the efficacy ofIntense Pulsed Light (IPL) technology in thetreatment of solarlentigines.Twenty patients with solar lentigines recruitedfrom the outpatient clinic of dermatology andandrology department ofthe main universityhospital in Alexandria were included in thisstudy. They were exposed to Intense PulsedLight every threeweeks for 5 sessions. Treatmentwas performed with the Quantum SR/HRusing 575 nm cutoff filters at a single pulsemodewith fluences of 17 J/cm, 2 ms pulse duration,and 30 ms inter pulse delay.Results are measured and evaluated by subjectiveand objective assessment. Complete improvementwas observed in 60% of the patients,partial improvement in 20%, while20% of thepatients were resistant to treatment.High intensity pulsed flashlamp systems provedto be a successful and a noninvasive means oftreatment; they provide a variable alternative tolaser systems and conventional therapeutic optionswhen itcomes to treating a series of indications.The low rates of adverse effects combinedwith the method’s proven efficacy aresupposed to bring about high levels of patientsatisfaction..

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