Flashlamp pulsed dye laser (FPDL) did not cure papulopustular rosacea.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Pharmacological treatment has a fairly good effect on the papulopustular lesions in rosacea, but not as good an effect on the erythema and telangiectases. The aim was to treat rosacea patients with both erythematotelangiectatic and papulopustular lesions with flashlamp pulsed dye laser (FPDL) until telangiectases/erythema disappeared, and to evaluate whether the treatment might also be effective on papulopustular lesions.

STUDY DESIGN/MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten patients were treated on one side of the face with FPDL. The final examination was blinded and performed on the average 10 months after the last treatment.

RESULTS

Two of the patients had more lesions after treatment, three were unchanged, three had only slightly less, and two had markedly less papulopustular lesions.

CONCLUSION

Our conclusion from this small sample of patients is that FPDL probably has limited value on papulopustular lesions in rosacea. This indicates that the origin of rosacea may not be only vascular.