The therapeutic effects of 1540-nm nonablative fractional erbium laser on macular amyloidosis: a randomized clinical trial

Abstract

Objective This aim of this study was to determine the effect of 1540-nm nonablative fractional erbium on macular amyloidosis. Methods This phase-II clinical trial study has been performed with parallel group with blinding of the evaluator. The skin lesions of the patients (15 patients and 30 lesions) with cutaneous macular amyloidosis were randomly assigned into laser and no-treatment groups. In the laser group, treatment was performed by 1540-nm nonablative fractional erbium laser. Thereafter, the patients’ lesions were compared in terms of pigmentation, rippling, thickness, and subjective response. Results The lesions of the intervention group significantly improved in the three-month follow-up compared to the control group (in the control and intervention group, improved pigmentation was observed in 20 and 53.3% with p = .02, improved rippling in 6.7 and 60% with p = .007, diminished lichenification in 0 and 53.1% with p = .007, and overall lesion improvement in 20 and 60% with p = .03, respectively). In investigating the subjective response through patient global assessment, the patients in the intervention group had a greater satisfaction (p = .01). There was a considerable improvement of pruritus in the intervention group (p = .001). Conclusions Use of 1540-nm nonablative fractional erbium laser offered a suitable efficacy to treat macular amyloidosis without significant complications.

Keywords

• 1540-nm nonablative fractional erbium laser
• macular amyloidosis
• treatment