Photodynamic therapy of acne vulgaris with topical δ-aminolaevulinic acid and incoherent light in Japanese patients

✍ Scribed by Y. Itoh; Y. Ninomiya; S. Tajima; A. Ishibashi

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2001
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 419 KB
• Volume: 144
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0007-0963
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2133.2001.04086.x

✦ Synopsis

Background:

Photodynamic therapy (pdt) is useful for treatment of epidermal neoplasia but may also have a role in the treatment of inflammatory dermatoses.

Objectives:

To study the effect of pdt in patients with acne.

Methods:

Three men and 10 women who suffered from intractable acne vulgaris were treated using pdt with topical delta-aminolaevulinic acid (ala) and polychromatic visible light. twenty per cent ala in an oil-in-water emulsion was applied to the lesions for 4 h with a light-shielding dressing. the lesions were then exposed to polychromatic visible light at 600-700 nm using a halogen light source of energy intensity 17 mw cm-2 and a total energy dose of 13 j cm-2.

Results:

All patients had apparent improvement of facial appearance and reduction of new acne lesions at 1, 3 and 6 months following pdt treatment. the adverse effects were discomfort, burning and stinging during irradiation, oedematous erythema for 3 days after pdt, epidermal exfoliation from the fourth to the 10th day, irritation and hypersensitivity to physical stimulation for 10 days after pdt, and pigmentation or erythema after epidermal exfoliation; the treated lesions returned to normal skin conditions within 1 month.

Conclusions:

Pdt was beneficial in the treatment of acne. as a photoactivating light source, polychromatic visible light was thought to be better for use with acne patients than laser light because of its cost-effectiveness, uniform illumination and time-efficiency in treating large areas.