title: Pulsed and scanned carbon dioxide laser resurfacing 2 years after treatment: comparison by means of scanning electron microscopy.
abstract: Studies have reported short-term and long-term (1-year) findings for laser skin resurfacing. Two of the most popular systems used for this procedure, the continuous-wave Sharplan 40C SilkTouch system and the pulsed Coherent 5000C UltraPulse system with a computer pattern generator, were previously compared for a range of follow-up times up to 1 year, using light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. This study analyzed the 2-year morphological differences using scanning electron microscopy. Tissue samples were obtained from 10 patients (age range, 50 to 72 years; skin types II and III) who had undergone laser resurfacing 2 years previously. One half of the face of each patient had been treated with the continuous-wave system and the other half with the pulsed system. The samples were subjected to scanning electron microscopy. On the continuous-wave-treated side, significantly better dermal collagen organization was observed at 2 years, with plump-appearing fibers that were closely knit to form a compact structure. On the side treated with the pulsed system, the collagen fibers in the papillary dermis were more loosely arranged and appeared drier. In both the continuous-wave-treated and pulsed-treated areas, the epidermis appeared healthy and exhibited some signs of age-related deterioration, with slightly flatter plaques and somewhat more flaking keratin on the pulsed-treated side. Probably because of the greater degree of residual thermal damage associated with the continuous-wave system, at 2 years after treatment there was more prolific synthesis and better orientation of collagen fibers, which were maintained for longer times, compared with the pulsed-treated specimens.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Médico Vilafortuny, Antony de Gimbernat Foundation, Cambrils, Spain. imv@laser-spain.com
authors.forename: Mario A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Trelles
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: Josepa
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rigau
authors.forename: Inès
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Allones
authors.forename: Marìano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Velez
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008875:Middle Aged; D015361:Rhytidoplasty; D012867:Skin / Q000648:ultrastructure*