Combination ALA-PDT and ablative fractional Er:YAG laser (2,940 nm) on the treatment of severe acne.

BACKGROUND: Scarring is a very common complication of severe acne and is difficult to treat by conventional methods. 5-Aminolevulinic acid (ALA) photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a novel treatment for improving acne lesions. Fractional laser resurfacing is a promising treatment for scar treatment because of its unique ability to stimulate the wound healing response and its depth of penetration.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of combination therapies of ALA-PDT and ablative fractional Er:YAG laser (2,940 nm) for scarring lesions in severe acne patients.

METHODS: A prospective, single-arm, pilot study. Forty subjects with severe acne were treated with 15% ALA-PDT for four times at 10-day intervals. They then received ablative fractional Er:YAG laser treatment five times at 4-week intervals. Three independent investigators evaluated subject outcomes at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months post-treatment (primary outcome); patients also provided self-assessments of improvement (secondary outcome).

RESULTS: Significant reductions in acne score (P < 0.01) were obtained at follow-up visits after 1, 3, 6, and 12 months. After 6 month, the lesions showed overall improvement in all of subjects (good to excellent in acne inflammatory lesions), 80% overall improvement in acne scars. After 12 months, most of subjects had improved hypertrophic/atrophic scars (good to excellent in 85%) and no one had recurrent acne inflammatory lesions. Patient self-evaluation also revealed good to excellent improvements (on average) in acne lesions and scarring, with significant improvements in self-esteem after 6 months post-treatment.

CONCLUSIONS: PDT can control the inflammation and improve the severity of acne lesions. Fractional resurfacing is a promising new treatment modality for scars by stimulating wound healing and remodeling. The combination therapy is a promising option for severe acne to prevent and improve car formation.