Nevus of Ota: Combination Treatment with Q-Switched Neodymium-Doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet Laser and Fractional CO2 Laser

Khushpreet Kaur Mann; Niti Khunger; Amit Kumar Yadav

doi:10.4103/JCAS.JCAS_116_21

Nevus of Ota: Combination Treatment with Q-Switched Neodymium-Doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet Laser and Fractional CO₂ Laser

J Cutan Aesthet Surg. 2023 Jul-Sep;16(3):214-220. doi: 10.4103/JCAS.JCAS_116_21.

Authors

Khushpreet Kaur Mann¹, Niti Khunger¹, Amit Kumar Yadav²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Dermatology and STD, Apex Regional STD Centre, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India.
² Department of Pathology, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India.

Abstract

Background: Nevus of Ota is a facial dermal melanocytic hamartoma occurring more commonly in Asians. The mainstay of treatment is 1064-nm Q-Switched neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser, which has shown variable results in pigmented skin.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether Q-Switched Nd:YAG laser treatment combined with fractional CO₂ laser is more efficacious than Q-Switched Nd:YAG laser alone.

Materials and methods: This was a prospective study with 81 patients. The patients were randomly divided into two groups. Group 1 received 1064-nm Q-Switched Nd:YAG laser alone and group 2 in addition received a fractional CO₂ laser as well. Both groups received six sittings at monthly intervals. The treatment response was documented with physician global assessment (PGA) and patient's treatment satisfaction on Wong-Baker Facial Pain Scale (WBFPS). Dermoscopic evaluation was done to see subsurface pigment clearance.

Results: In the combination group, 25% of patients had more than 50% improvement as compared with 5.71% in group 1. To achieve a mean PGA score of 1.4, it took six sessions for group 1 versus only four for group 2. Dermoscopic evaluation showed faster pigment clearance in the combination group.

Conclusion: Combining two lasers shows statistically significant faster and greater degree of improvement as compared with Q-Switched Nd:YAG laser monotherapy in nevus of Ota.

Keywords: Fractional CO2 laser; Q-Switched Nd:YAG laser; nevus of Ota.