Laser treatment of epidermal nevi: A multicenter retrospective study with long-term follow-up.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Patients with epidermal nevi strongly demand cosmetic improvement. Laser treatment appears appealing and is frequently used in clinical practice. Nevertheless, large series with long-term follow-up are missing, preventing definitive conclusions about its real benefit.

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate the long-term effectiveness and safety of lasers for epidermal nevi.

METHODS:

Bicentric, retrospective, cohort study, including all patients treated with a laser for an epidermal nevus with more than a 1-year follow-up.

RESULTS:

Seventy patients were treated for different types of epidermal nevi, mostly with ablative lasers: 23 verrucous epidermal nevi, 16 nevi sebaceous, 26 Becker nevi, 2 inflammatory linear verrucous epidermal nevi, 1 smooth-muscle hamartoma, 1 rounded and velvety epidermal nevus, and 1 nevus lipomatosus superficialis. The follow-up period was a median of 37 months (range, 12-127 months). Better results, fewer recurrences, and higher patient satisfaction were noted in treatments for verrucous epidermal nevi than for nevi sebaceous. Q-switched lasers failed to show any degree of improvement in almost all patients with Becker nevus.

LIMITATIONS:

The retrospective nature of the study.

CONCLUSIONS:

Ablative lasers can treat verrucous epidermal nevi with good long-term esthetic results but have limited long-term efficacy for nevus sebaceous. Q-switched lasers failed to improve Becker nevi.

• Authors: Azzam Alkhalifah, Frederike Fransen, Florence Le Duff, Jean-Philippe Lacour, Albert Wolkerstorfer, Thierry Passeron
• Journal: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (J Am Acad Dermatol) Vol. 83 Issue 6 Pg. 1606-1615 (Dec 2020) ISSN: 1097-6787 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 31202870 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Multicenter Study)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2019 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Topics

• Adolescent
• Adult
• Child
• Child, Preschool
• Esthetics
• Female
• Follow-Up Studies
• Humans
• Laser Therapy (adverse effects, instrumentation, statistics & numerical data)
• Lasers, Gas (adverse effects)
• Lasers, Solid-State (adverse effects)
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Neoplasm Recurrence, Local (epidemiology, prevention & control)
• Nevus (pathology, surgery)
• Patient Satisfaction
• Retrospective Studies
• Skin (pathology, radiation effects)
• Skin Neoplasms (pathology, surgery)
• Treatment Outcome
• Young Adult