Laser treatment of solar elastosis with epithelial preservation.
OBJECTIVE
Laser resurfacing has gained wide acceptance for the treatment of actinic facial skin. However, postoperative care of the face is reasonably complicated and prolonged erythema is common. To simplify the postoperative care and to possibly reduce the duration of the erythema, we investigated a laser treatment that spares the epithelium.


METHODS
A 980 nm diode laser was used with a spherical optic handpiece to focus the light in the dermis. We treated in vitro breast and facial skin and measured the tissue shrinkage and the histological changes. We also treated two patients and harvested the tissue after 6 and 21 days of wound healing.


RESULTS
The diode laser treatment does not ablate the epidermis. The tissue shows shrinkage (16% at 8W) similar to three passes of the scanned carbon dioxide laser treatment (15%). Thermal damage in the dermis is similar to the residual damage left after laser resurfacing with the scanned carbon dioxide laser. After 21 days the tissue shows new collagen and an abundance of young elastin fibers.


CONCLUSIONS
These investigations indicate that solar elastosis in skin can be treated with the 980 nm diode laser while preserving the epithelial layer.
O'Donnell Laser Institute, St. Louis, Missouri 63122-7222, USA.
J A
JA
Muccini
F E
FE
O'Donnell
T
T
Fuller
L
L
Reinisch
D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D003094:Collagen; D062109:Dermatologic Surgical Procedures; D020405:Dermis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D004547:Elastic Tissue / Q000473:pathology; D004549:Elastin; D004817:Epidermis / Q000473:pathology; D004848:Epithelium / Q000473:pathology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D015361:Rhytidoplasty / Q000379:methods*; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology; D015595:Skin Aging / Q000473:pathology*
D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D003094:Collagen; D004549:Elastin