Case report: Effectiveness of pulsed dye laser in facial redness of atopic dermatitis: a report of three cases

Abstract

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Facial redness in atopic dermatitis (AD) is often intractable due to factors like chronic inflammation, steroid-induced telangiectasia, and rosacea-like dermatitis from topical treatments. Pulsed-dye laser (PDL) effectively treats both vascular and non-vascular inflammatory conditions, but its use in adult AD is limited. This study presents three cases of refractory AD with significant facial erythema treated with PDL. Two women and one man had undergone five to thirteen PDL treatments at 3 weeks to 3-month intervals. Clinical response was evaluated using the Eczema Severity Score, which showed significant improvement after PDL treatments. Our cases explore the efficacy of PDL in treating refractory facial erythema in adult AD patients. Patients tolerated the procedures well without severe complications such as hyperpigmentation, hypopigmentation, or blister formation. These findings suggest that PDL effectively reduces facial redness and alleviates associated AD symptoms. PDL is expected to address both vasodilation and cutaneous inflammation as an adjunctive therapy to manage refractory facial redness in adult AD. Further cases and research are needed to fully understand PDL’s immunomodulatory effects.

Keywords

• atopic dermatitis
• pulsed dye laser
• laser
• facial redness
• telangiectasia