title: Laser surgery in rhinophyma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Rhinophyma is a benign, disfiguring disorder, commonly referred to as the end-stage of severe rosacea and characterized by a progressive thickening and hypertrophy of the nasal skin and soft tissues. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the efficacy of CO2 laser compared to other laser techniques and surgical methods in the treatment of rhinophyma.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-four rhinophyma patients were treated with CO2 laser in our institution from 2003 to 2013. A 10,600-nm CO2 pulsed laser was used in all patients, with a 6-month, post-treatment follow-up.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Six months after the last laser session, all patients showed global improvement of their clinical conditions: 19 (79.1%) high improvement (>75%), 4 (16.7%) moderate improvement (50-75%), and 1 (4.2%) low improvement (<25%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study demonstrates that carbon dioxide laser warrants a careful nasal surface ablation, allowing the remodeling of the hypertrophic areas, with an excellent cosmetic result, a very short healing time, and virtually no side effects.
authors.affiliation: Section of Dermatology, Department of Surgery and Translational Medicine, University of Florence Medical School, Florence, Italy - bassi76@interfree.it.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bassi
authors.forename: Piero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Campolmi
authors.forename: Margherita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dindelli
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bruscino
authors.forename: Rossana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Conti
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cannarozzo
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pimpinelli
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006984:Hypertrophy; D053685:Laser Therapy / Q000379:methods; D054020:Lasers, Gas / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012224:Rhinophyma / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014945:Wound Healing