Clinical and echographic analysis of ablative fractionated carbon dioxide laser in the treatment of photodamaged facial skin.

Background: Ablative fractional photothermolysis (AFP) has been reported to be effective in the treatment of photoaging.

Materials And Methods: Treatment was administered using an AFP device and assessed photographically 3 months after treatment by a blinded physician. Ultrasound measurements evaluated skin thickness and subepidermal low echogenic band thickness (SLEB), the portion of the papillary dermis filled with solar elastosis.

Results: Three months after treatment, the mean score improved 61.0% (95% confidence interval (CI)=56.8-65.2%) for dyschromia, 54.3% (95% CI=51.6-57.0%) for skin laxity, 51.5% (95% CI=49.6-53.4%) for rhytides, and 60.2%9 (95% CI=56.8-63.6%) for overall cosmetic outcome. Patients had a significant decrease in SLEB in all anatomic sites treated (0.078 cm at baseline, 0.038 cm at 3 months, 40.0% decrease) (p<.001). Total skin thickness increased with AFP (0.163 cm at baseline, 0.188 cm at 3 months, 10.3% increase) (p<.05).

Conclusions: In this pilot study, AFP improved pigmentary and textural components of photoaged skin. Future investigation is warranted to validate the results demonstrating that high resolution ultrasound can be used as a quantitative tool to assess skin changes after AFP.