Cutaneous effects of pulsed nitrogen gas laser irradiation.

The effects of pulsed nitrogen gas laser emission (337.1 nm wavelength) were studied on human skin. The laser provides high-intensity monochromatic UVA radiation and can elicit delayed erythema in an actual exposure time of about 1 msec (105,000 pulses, each lasting 10 nsec, delivered over 210 sec). The effects of nitrogen laser irradiation were compared clinically and histologically with conventional erythemogenic UVA and UVB exposures from xenon arc or mercury arc lamps and were found to be similar in many respects. The minimal erythema dose is comparable to that obtained using more conventional continuous light sources which have more than 100 times lower intensity. A phototoxicity comparison of oral and topically applied psoralens is presented, indicating that the laser may prove useful in comparing photosenitizing capacity of certain compounds.