Efficacy and Safety of 577-nm Yellow Laser in the Treatment of Pigmented Epidermal Lesions.

OBJECTIVES

Freckles and lentigines are common pigmented problems which not only cause substantial cosmetic morbidity but also create psychosocial concern. The available modalities for the treatment of pigmented lesions are often unsatisfactory for patients, require a long treatment period, and often cause skin irritation. With the advent of lasers, safe and effective treatment options for epidermal pigmentation have become more varied for different Fitzpatrick skin types. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of 577-nm yellow laser in the treatment of pigmented epidermal lesions.

METHODS

This study was carried out on 50 patients presented with pigmented epidermal lesions (25 presented with freckles and 25 presented with lentigines). Each patient received four treatment sessions with a 577-nm diode laser at 2-week intervals.

RESULTS

There was significant improvement in freckles and lentigines, as 23 out of 50 patients showed marked improvement, 11 patients showed moderate improvement, 10 patients showed mild improvement, and only six patients had no changes. Moreover, 23 patients were very satisfied, 18 patients were satisfied, and nine patients were not satisfied. As regards the safety of the 577-nm yellow laser, there was no significant adverse effect among patients except pain, erythema, and hyperpigmentation, which resolved within one month after treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

This study showed that the 577-nm yellow laser is an effective, safe, and well-tolerated device in the treatment of freckles and lentigines.