Treatment of a café-au-lait macule with the erbium:YAG laser.

The erbium:YAG laser is a relatively new instrument for skin rejuvenation. We present a case of a "Q-switched laser-resistant" café-au-lait macule that was successfully treated with the erbium:YAG laser.

Accessibility and reliability of cutaneous laser surgery information on the World Wide Web.

The World Wide Web has provided the public with easy and affordable access to a vast range of information. However, claims may be unsubstantiated and misleading. The purpose of this study was to use cutaneous laser surgery as a model to assess the availability and reliability of Web sites and to evaluate this resource for the quality of patient and provider education.

Lasers for vascular lesions.

Recent developments in laser technology have revolutionized the treatment of various cutaneous disorders. Lasers provide effective and safe treatment of many conditions for which previous therapy was either unavailable, ineffective, or unacceptable. Basic laser principles, laser safety, available laser systems for treatment vascular lesions, clinical applications, preoperative considerations, anesthesia, postoperative changes, side effects/complications, nursing measures, and patient education are described.

Spontaneous bullae over laser resurfaced skin.

We report 2 cases of facial bullae occurring subsequent to full-face carbon dioxide laser skin resurfacing. Although the cause is unknown, both responded to potent topical corticosteroid treatment. Laser resurfacing is a relatively new procedure, and physicians should be aware of this complication.

Comparison of the 595 nm long-pulse (1.5 msec) and ultralong-pulse (4 msec) lasers in the treatment of leg veins.

Background: Although several lasers and light sources are now available for vascular lesions, treatment of leg veins has not been very satisfactory. Lengthening the pulse width should theoretically result in improved response rates.

Objective: This study compared the efficacy and safety of 595 nm pulsed lasers at 1.

A clinical overview of hair removal using lasers and light sources.

The tremendous demand for removal of unwanted hair has led to the development of a wide range of noninvasive, user-friendly laser and light source systems; however, despite considerable advances in this field, these devices still have the potential to cause injury when used improperly. It is important to follow precise treatment guidelines in order to attain optimal results. This article gives an overview of the currently available lasers and light sources.

A clinical and histologic prospective controlled comparative study of the picosecond titanium:sapphire (795 nm) laser versus the Q-switched alexandrite (752 nm) laser for removing tattoo pigment.

Background: Theory predicts that picosecond lasers should be more effective than the currently available nanosecond lasers in removing tattoo ink. In addition to thermal confinement, such pulse widths cause optimal photomechanical disruption of the target.

Objective: This study compared the efficacy of the picosecond titanium:sapphire (795 nm, 500 psec) laser and the Q-switched alexandrite (752 nm, 50 nsec) laser in the treatment of tattooed guinea pigs.

Total body heliotherapy.

Sunlight has long been known to be beneficial for a variety of skin diseases. Patients with psoriasis and eczema frequently employ ambient heliotherapy to control their conditions. However, social norms do not permit a person to expose the entire body in public, thus placing severe restrictions on the utility of this modality for the treatment of generalized psoriasis, for example.

CO2 laser resurfacing of psoriatic plaques: a pilot study.

Background And Objective: Laser resurfacing can precisely remove epidermis and papillary dermis, sites pivotal to the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Our objective was to determine the efficacy and safety of superficially ablating carbon dioxide (CO2) lasers for treating isolated, recalcitrant psoriatic plaques.

Materials And Methods: Twelve adult subjects with stable, plaque-type psoriasis were recruited.

Solar urticaria: case report and phototesting with lasers.

Solar urticaria (SU) is a rare photosensitivity disease characterized by itching, erythema, and whealing immediately after exposure to sunlight or artificial radiation. A 28-year-old female whose history was strongly suggestive of SU, but who failed to demonstrate any photosensitivity on standard light testing with a slide projector as well as UVA and UVB broadband bulbs, developed urtication when provoked with the argon-pumped dye laser at 610 nm, 650 nm, and 690 nm. Lasers may be useful tools in performing visible phototesting, especially at longer wavelengths, in patients with SU because they are powerful and efficient, whereas slide projectors have relatively little emission toward the red wavelengths and consequently may fail to evoke an urticarial response in patients, such as ours, with high-threshold, red light-induced SU.

Sweet's syndrome in a skin clinic in Singapore: an epidemiology study.

Thirty-nine patients with Sweet's syndrome seen at the National Skin Centre in Singapore between 1982 and 1994 were reviewed. Diagnosis was based on the presence of acute tender, erythematous plaques and nodules, and histologically on a dense dermal infiltrate composed predominantly of neutrophils. The female to male ratio was 1.