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Nonablative fractionated lasers show efficacy in treating stretch marks
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Patients with stretch marks displayed clinical and histopathological improvements after treatment with 1540-nm and 1410-nm nonablative fractionated lasers, according to recently published study results.
Researchers at the department of dermatology and cutaneous biology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, studied nine patients (eight women; average age, 32.5 years) with abdominal striae distensae who were treated with six sessions at 3- to 6-week intervals. Half of the abdomen was treated with a 1,540-nm nonablative fractionated laser (NAFL; Icon1540, Cynosure) and the other half was treated with a 1,410-nm NAFL (Emerge1410, Cynosure).
At baseline and 3-month follow-up after final treatment, photos were taken, and patients received a questionnaire. Two blinded dermatologists used a pre-established clinical scale was used to score photographs and a pre-established pathology scale was used by two dermapathologists to grade biopsies from two patients.
There was bilateral clinical improvement in all patients at follow-up, with 28% of 1,410-nm-treated and 33% of 1,540-nm-treated patients rated with “good” or “excellent” improvement, with no statistical significant differences noted in efficacy between the two laser modalities.
Increases in epidermal thickness, dermal thickness and collagen and elastin density were measured in skin biopsies after treatments when compared with baseline, with no statistically significant differences between the two lasers.
Most patients (71.4%) reported being “very satisfied” and 28.6% “moderately satisfied” with treatment at follow-up.
“This study is, to our knowledge, the first in comparing the clinical and histopathologic efficacy and also the safety of the 1,540-nm NAFL and the 1,410-nm NAFL for the treatment of [striae distensae],” the researchers concluded. “The 1,540 nm-treated side showed a trend toward greater clinical and histopathologic improvement compared with the 1,410 nm-treated side, but the study was not sufficiently powered to determine the significance. Both lasers were well tolerated by patients and the [postinflammatory hyperpigmentation] was transient in affected patients.” – by Bruce Thiel
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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