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Lentigo and Solar Lentigines

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Dermatological Cryosurgery and Cryotherapy

Abstract

Lentigo simplex and solar lentigines, although a minor cosmetic problem, have become an important concern among aging people, since the life span has increased substantially in the last 50 or more years, people keep active socially for much longer. These skin lesions can be easily removed by a number of dermatological procedures, among them cryosurgery. Traditionally, cryosurgery has been carried out by the use of LN. The problem is that extreme cold (−196 °C) may be too aggressive for the treatment of superficial dark spots, like lentigo and lentigines. For that reason we employ nitrous oxide, a cryogen with a much less freezing potential (boiling point −89.5 °C) for their treatment. Nitrous oxide is a relatively cheap gas since there is no insensible loss like with LN. It has less potential for blistering and causes less pain. It can be adjusted for treating small lesions, either in the form of a spray or with probes. We have found that cryosurgery with nitrous oxide to be the best treatment option for lentigos and lentigines.

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Correspondence to Leon Neumann MD .

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Neumann, L. (2016). Lentigo and Solar Lentigines. In: Abramovits, W., Graham, G., Har-Shai, Y., Strumia, R. (eds) Dermatological Cryosurgery and Cryotherapy. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-6765-5_90

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-6765-5_90

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