This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (6)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Dermatology  • Dermatologic Disorders  • Dermatologic Disorders, Other  • Dermatologic Procedures  • Dermatologic Procedures, Other  • Facial Plastic Surgery  • Cosmetic Surgery/ Procedures  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Melissa A. Bogle, MD; Kenneth A. Arndt, MD; Jeffrey S. Dover, MD, FRCPC

Arch Dermatol. 2007;143(2):168-174.

Objective  To evaluate the use of multiple, low-energy, full-face plasma skin regeneration treatments.

Design  Plasma skin regeneration delivers energy to the skin through plasma pulses induced by passing radiofrequency into nitrogen gas. Single-treatment, high-energy, 1-pass treatments have been demonstrated to achieve good results with an excellent safety profile. Eight volunteers underwent full-face treatments every 3 weeks, for a total of 3 treatments, using energy settings of 1.2 to 1.8 J. Before each subsequent treatment, the quality of regenerated epidermis, the degree of downtime, and erythema were recorded. Full-thickness skin biopsy specimens were obtained from 6 patients before treatment and 90 days following the last treatment. Patients were seen for follow-up 4 days after each treatment and 30 and 90 days after the third treatment.

Results  Three months after treatment, investigators found a 37% reduction in facial rhytids and study participants noted a 68% improvement in overall facial appearance. Reepithelialization was complete in 4 days. Patients assessed erythema to persist an average of 6 days after treatment. Epidermal regeneration from the first treatment was longer than from the following treatments (9 vs 4 and 5 days, respectively). One patient developed localized hyperpigmentation after the first treatment, which resolved by follow-up at day 30. No scarring or hypopigmentation occurred. A histologic evaluation 3 months after treatment revealed a band of new collagen at the dermoepidermal junction with less dense elastin in the upper dermis. The mean depth of new collagen was 72.3 µm.

Conclusions  Plasma skin regeneration using the multiple low-energy treatment technique allows significant successful treatment of photodamaged facial skin with minimal downtime. Results are comparable to a single high-energy treatment, but with less healing time.

Author Affiliations: SkinCare Physicians, Chestnut Hill, Mass (Drs Bogle, Arndt, and Dover); Departments of Dermatology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn (Drs Arndt and Dover), and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass (Dr Arndt); and Department of Medicine (Dermatology), Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH (Dr Arndt). Dr Bogle is now with the Laser and Cosmetic Surgery Center of Houston, Houston, Tex.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Lasers and Optical Technologies in Facial Plastic Surgery
Wu and Wong
Arch Facial Plast Surg 2008;10:381-390.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT