A novel 311nm Titanium:Sapphire UV laser demonstrates comparable efficacy and safety when compared to 308nm excimer laser in the treatment of localized vitiligo, suggests a study recently published in Lasers in Surgery and Medicine, the official journal of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery.

In the study, Professor Jung Min Bae and his team at the Saint Vincent’s Hospital, College of Medicine’s Department of Dermatology compared a 311nm Titanium:Sapphire UV laser (TSL) with a 308nm excimer laser (EL) in the treatment of localized vitiligo. They assigned 74 paired vitiligo lesions in 21 patients to either a TSL or EL group.

The lesions were treated twice weekly for 12 weeks and evaluated every 4 weeks, measuring and comparing the extent of re-pigmentation in each group.

In summary, the TSL group showed similar therapeutic effect to the EL group. Particularly, excellent re-pigmentation (76% to 100%) was observed in 65.0% of facial lesions after 12 weeks of TSL treatment compared to re-pigmentation of 60% in the EL treatment group. These results are encouraging given that laser treatments are widely used to treat localized vitiligo and particularly in facial lesions.

Furthermore, in a separate animal study, 311nm TSL treatment is shown to induce expression of endothelin-1 stem cell factor and WNT7a; cytokines involved in melanocyte differentiation, proliferation, and migration, a media release from LASEROPEK Co Ltd explains.

“Since we demonstrated that 311nm Ti:Sapphire UV laser and 308nm excimer laser are similarly efficacious and safe as vitiligo treatments in a non-inferiority randomized controlled trial, the 311nm Ti:Sapphire UV laser can serve as an alternative treatment option for localized vitiligo,” Jung Min Bae says in the release.

PALLAS is a Ti:Sapphire solid state 311nm UV-B laser and is CE Marked as well as FDA cleared for UV phototherapy of psoriasis, vitiligo, atopic dermatitis, and leukoderma. The advanced solid-state technology developed and deployed in PALLAS negates the need for excimer gas thereby eliminating consumable costs, and laser downtime due to gas replacement servicing. The lack of excimer gas also increases laser operating safety.

PALLAS, a development of and manufactured by LASEROPTEK Co Ltd, is on exhibit at the 2019 American Society for Laser Medicine & Surgery (ASLMS) meeting, held March 27 thru 31 in Denver.

[Source(s): LASEROPEK Co Ltd, PR Newswire]