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Clinical improvement of photoaging-associated facial hyperpigmentation in Korean skin with a picosecond 1064-nm neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser

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Abstract

Traditional attempts at alleviating photoaging-associated facial pigmentation conditions such as melasma, mottled hyperpigmentation, and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation have yielded disfiguring cosmetic results. Laser toning using a low-fluence Q-switched 1064-nm neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser has been more commonly applied to date. However, the treatment efficacy and safety of this approach have not been widely reported. This study therefore evaluated the efficacy and safety of picosecond 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser application for photoaging-associated facial pigmentation treatment in Korean subjects. Forty-seven Korean subjects with photoaging-associated facial pigmentation underwent picosecond 1064-nm laser application. The clinical improvement of 17 patients was assessed by objective measurements such as melanin and erythema indices. All subjects received six biweekly treatments with the laser in a three-pass fashion delivering approximately 2000 to 2500 shots using a zoom handpiece with a spot size of 7 mm, fluence ranging from 0.4 to 0.7 J/cm2, and a repetition rate of 10 Hz. Clinicians evaluated the improvement of pigmentation using the pigmentation area and severity index (PSI), and subjects reported their satisfaction level on a four-point scale. Statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS version 19.0 for Windows software program (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Forty-seven subjects (45 females and two males) completed this study with a 12-week follow-up period. The average decrease in PSI value at 12 weeks after treatment was 6.85 ± 6.35 points (p < 0.001). The average decreases in the values of the erythema and melanin indices were 19.41 ± 64.64 points (p = 0.234) and 28.88 ± 32.89 points (p = 0.002). An analysis of 32 subjects’ reports (68.1%) suggested good or excellent improvement. No serious adverse effects were observed during treatment or the follow-up period. Picosecond 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser application appears to be safe and effective in improving various photoaging-associated facial pigmentation conditions in Korean skin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 88 Olympic-ro 43-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul, 05505, Republic of Korea

    Young Jae Kim, Hyun Yi Suh, Myoung Eun Choi, Chang Jin Jung & Sung Eun Chang

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  1. Young Jae Kim
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  2. Hyun Yi Suh
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  3. Myoung Eun Choi
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  4. Chang Jin Jung
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  5. Sung Eun Chang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sung Eun Chang.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Funding source

This study was supported by Industrial Core Technology Development program by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (No. 10048690).

Ethical approval

Approved (IRB approval number: 2018–1025).

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All patients voluntarily agreed to participate in this study and provided written informed consent. All patients voluntarily agreed for publication of this study and provided written informed consent. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Research involving human participants and/or animals

The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Asan Medical Center.

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Kim, Y.J., Suh, H.Y., Choi, M.E. et al. Clinical improvement of photoaging-associated facial hyperpigmentation in Korean skin with a picosecond 1064-nm neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser. Lasers Med Sci 35, 1599–1606 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-020-03008-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-020-03008-z

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