Treatment of mature striae with the pulsed dye laser.
BACKGROUND
Striae are a common cosmetic problem with no effective treatment options. A recent study has shown improvement in the appearance of mature striae following a single 585-nm pulsed dye laser (PDL) treatment at low fluence.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effectiveness of treating mature striae with the 585-nm PDL.


METHODS
Five patients with mature striae on the abdomen were prospectively treated with the 585-nm PDL at 2-month intervals for 1-2 years. The response of the striae to laser treatment was evaluated in each patient through sequential clinical, photographic, textural, and histologic assessment.


RESULTS
All five patients reported a slight overall improvement in the appearance of the striae following multiple PDL treatments. Comparison of pre- and post-treatment photographs, however, failed to reveal improvement in any patients. Optical profilometry performed on striae impressions showed mild improvement in the surface texture of striae in three patients. Histologic comparison of pre- and post-treatment biopsy specimens failed to reveal normalization of skin architecture.


CONCLUSIONS
Serial treatment of mature striae with the PDL results in mild, subjective, clinical improvement but no significant photographic, textural or histologic improvement.
Nehal
K S
KS
Department of Dermatology, New York University Medical Center, 530 First Avenue, Suite 7R, New York, NY 10016, USA.
Lichtenstein
D A
DA
Kamino
H
H
Levine
V J
VJ
Ashinoff
R
R
D000009:Abdominal Muscles; D000328:Adult; D004548:Elasticity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome