Treatment of vitiligo with the 308-nm excimer laser: a pilot study.
BACKGROUND
Present vitiligo therapies require many months of treatment and often result in disappointing outcomes. Common therapeutic options include phototherapy with psoralens plus ultraviolet A (UVA) radiation and broadband or narrowband UVB radiation phototherapy. Some of these modalities require regular phototherapy sessions several times a week for up to a year to achieve a therapeutic response. Targeted phototherapy with single-wavelength laser light is a treatment alternative that may prove to be a time-efficient and effective therapeutic option for the management of vitiligo.


METHODS
This intervention study was designed as a before and after trial with a single arm. Twenty-nine patches of vitiligo from 18 patients (6 males and 12 females) were treated at the start of the study. Vitiligo patches were treated by using a 308-nm xenon-chloride excimer laser. Lesions were treated 3 times a week for a maximum of 12 treatments. Treatment was withheld if sunburn was observed and held until resolution. All patients had untreated vitiligo patches that served as control sites.


RESULTS
Twenty-three vitiligo patches from 12 patients received at least 6 treatments and resulted in some repigmentation in 57% of the treated patches. Eleven vitiligo patches from 6 patients received all 12 treatments and resulted in some repigmentation in 82% of the treated patches. Untreated control patches remained unchanged.


CONCLUSIONS
This degree of repigmentation in a period of 2 to 4 weeks is much higher than that achieved with any other present vitiligo therapy. The xenon-chloride excimer laser may represent a new treatment modality for the management of stable vitiligo.
Spencer
James M
JM
Division of Dermatologic Surgery, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA.
Nossa
Robert
R
Ajmeri
Jyotendra
J
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012016:Reference Values; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014820:Vitiligo / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000532:radiotherapy*