Use of Er:YAG for the treatment of recalcitrant facial verruca plana

Abstract

Background: Recalcitrant facial verruca plana (FVP) may persist for years and full remission is not always achieved with conventional therapies. The clinical success rates reported for different lasers are highly variable and only one study evaluated the Er:YAG laser for the treatment of FVP.

Objective: To determine whether Er:YAG is safe and effective for the treatment of recalcitrant FVP.

Methods: Forty-six patients with recalcitrant FVP were treated by Er:YAG at four-week intervals. The patients’ clinical response, adverse effects such as scarring and pigment change, recurrence and patient satisfaction were assessed. Patients were clinically evaluated after each session over a six-month follow-up.

Results: A total of 550 lesions of 46 participants were treated with 1–3 passes. The patients received 1–4 laser sessions with one session on average. Thirty-two patients (62.5%) achieved a complete response with 458 lesions (83.3%) being completely and 30 (5.5%) being partially healed. The post-treatment side effects were post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation and mild scar formation. FVP recurred in 12 patients (26.0%). Twenty-six patients (56.5%) were completely satisfied and nine (19.5%) were mostly satisfied with the treatment.

Conclusions: Er:YAG laser is a good treatment option in patients with recalcitrant FVP, particularly for cosmetically sensitive areas.

Keywords:

• Erbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet lasers
• lasers
• verruca

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.