Picosecond 532-nm neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser - a novel and promising modality for the treatment of café-au-lait macules

This study highlights the use of the PicoWay Zoom on several men and women with café-au-lait macules. Good to excellent improvement was shown for all subjects evaluated nine months later.

PubMed Reference:Artzi O, Mehrabi JN, Koren A, et al. Lasers Med Sci. 2017 Nov.

Study Details:

  • 16 subjects (5 males, 11 females) with skin phototypes II-IV and mean age 26 years with 1-3 café-au-lait macules (CALMs) present since birth
  • 1-4 PicoWay Zoom 532nm treatments, with spot size of 4–5 mm and fluence of 0.8 - 1.6 J/cm2 at 4 to 8-week intervals
  • Follow-up at 9 months after the final treatment
  • 2 blinded dermatologists assessed clinical images, using a 6-point scale (0 = exacerbated to 5=complete (96 - 100%) clearance)

Study Results:

  • 15 subjects evaluated at 9 months; 1 non-responder dropped from the study
  • All 15 patients demonstrated good to excellent improvement (mean ±3.76 ± 0.94) on the 0-5 scale
  • Treatments were well tolerated with minimal complications
  • Only two patients experienced partial recurrence
  • High subject satisfaction and comfort associated with treatment