Picosecond alexandrite laser safe and effective in benign pigmentary disorders

Long-term data from a study investigating picosecond alexandrite laser (PSAL) therapy for patients with benign pigmentary disorders demonstrated that this was a safe and effective therapy for the removal of excessive facial pigmentation, irrespective of age, sex, skin type, and disease type.

Dr Kentaro Oku (Hills Grace Clinic, Japan) and his research team assessed the long-term efficacy and safety of 755-nm PSAL for the removal of excessive facial pigmentation in patients with benign pigmentary disorders [1]. They assessed 786 cases for post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH)  and looked at age, gender, disease type, number of treatments, global aesthetic improvement scale (GAIS), and Fitzpatrick skin type.

Most participants received therapy for solar lentigines (89.4%) and/or seborrheic keratosis (51.9%). Freckles (9.1%), Hori’s nevus (5.3%), and nevus of Ota (1.1%) were other reasons for participants to seek treatment. PIH was seen in 5.6% of the participants, and 1 case of transient vitiligo was reported.

Regarding GAIS scores, 17.4% achieved a ‘very much improved’ score, an additional 33.7% reached a ‘very improved’ score, and another 45.4% reached the ‘improved’ level of the scale. Only 3.4% of the participants had an ‘unaltered’ score on the GAIS. Furthermore, all participants experienced erythema as an after effect, and 31.9% of the participants had oedematous erythema.

Dr Oku concluded that PSAL therapy was a highly effective and well-tolerated treatment for the removal of excessive facial pigmentation in patients with benign pigmentary disorders.

1. Oku K, et al. Long-term safety and efficacy of picosecond alexandrite laser for benign pigmentary disorders. Late-breaker Session 3, WCD 2023, 3–8 July, Singapore, Singapore.