Tattoo removal with ingenol mebutate

Figures & data

Figure 1 Tattoo removal with ingenol mebutate.

Notes: (A) Photographs of two tattoos (≈1 cm × ≈1 cm blue crosses), one treated with placebo and the other with ingenol mebutate, and both followed over time (till Day 220). A fully formed eschar can be seen on Day 8 over the ingenol mebutate-treated tattoo site. (B) Pictures of five tattoos on five mice treated with placebo gel and five tattoos on another five mice treated with ingenol mebutate. Pictures were taken before treatment (Day 0) and 220 days after treatment.

Figure 2 Histology of tattoo sites before and after ingenol mebutate treatment.

Notes: Histology of tattoo sites stained with H&E and viewed under UV and normal light. The tattoo microspheres contain fluorescent dye, and can thus be clearly seen as bright, light-blue spheres. (A) Cross-section of skin showing tattoo microspheres in the dermis, 2 weeks after tattoo application. The dark purple staining layer above the dermis is the epidermis. (B) Day 4 postinitiation of ingenol mebutate treatment showing loss of epidermis and the presence of tattoo microspheres in the forming eschar. A resolving mononuclear cell infiltrate (N) is also apparent in the dermis. (C) Day 7 postinitiation of ingenol mebutate treatment showing a reestablished epidermis and tattoo microspheres predominantly located in the mature and crusting eschar.
Abbreviations: H&E, hematoxylin and eosin; UV, ultraviolet.