Oct 5 2009
The appearance of facial acne scars showed greater improvement with a combination treatment of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and percutaneous collagen induction (PCI or medical needling) with the ENVIRON® Surgical Roll-CIT(TM) compared to PDT alone.
The results of the pilot split-face comparison were presented by Hilton Kaplan, MD PhD, Medical Advisor for ENVIRON® distributor DermoGenesis, at the 2009 Joint Annual Meeting of the American Society of Dermatologic Surgery (ASDS) and American Society of Cosmetic Dermatology & Aesthetic Surgery (ASCDAS).
"Facial acne scars are disfiguring and medically challenging to treat," noted Julie Kenner, MD PhD, the study's lead author and a dermatologist in Kailua, Hawaii. "Combining PDT and medical needling offers an effective new treatment for acne scarring that is suitable for all skin types and regions because it does not strip or remove the epidermis."
PDT uses photosensitive chemicals activated by light to treat targeted areas of acne scarring. Medical needling with the ENVIRON® Surgical Roll-CIT(TM) improves scarring by creating micro-clefts in the skin, which initiates a platelet-driven healing cascade that results in regenerative forms of collagen and elastin.
After three treatments, the side treated with PDT and PCI showed an average increase in Type I collagen and epidermal thickness that was, respectively, 5.46 and 10.5 times greater than the side treated with PDT alone. Results were verified by comparing clinical photographs and histological samples obtained prior to and after the treatments.
Four subjects with facial acne scarring and Fitzpatrick skin types II to IV were included in the pilot study. During the treatment, medical needling was performed on the right cheek of each subject. Then, 5-aminolevinic acid (ALA) was applied to both cheeks and activated by IPL (400-700nm). Sunscreen and ENVIRON® topical products containing fat forms of vitamins A and C were used daily throughout.
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