Abstract
Onychomycosis is a common disorder of the nails. Treatment modalities include oral and topical antifungals, surgical treatment or a combination of these therapies. Cure rates remain low with relatively high relapse rates seen after successful treatment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the treatment of onychomycosis using a novel 0.65-millisecond (ms) pulsed 1064-nm laser. Eight subjects were treated over two to three sessions spaced at least 3 weeks apart. Of the eight subjects evaluated, seven had negative post-treatment cultures after the second or third session. Treatments were well tolerated by all subjects. These data suggest that treatment of onychomycosis with a 0.65-ms pulsed Nd:YAG 1064-nm laser should be studied further to determine the long-term clinical and microbiologic effect. The optimal number of treatment sessions for each patient needs to be determined.
Acknowledgements
Joe Hurley is acknowledged for his assistance with preparation of the manuscript.
Declaration of interest: The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of the paper.