Background: Frictional dermal melanosis over bony prominences (Lifa disease) is a common pigmentary skin disorder in Iraqi patients. Q-switched lasers are the gold standard treatment of correcting pigmentation; among them are the 532-nm and 1,064-nm lasers.
Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of these lasers in the treatment of hyperpigmentation due to Lifa disease.
Patients and methods: A prospective, comparative, controlled, split-lesion clinical trial study was designed. Nineteen female patients with clinical diagnosis of Lifa disease were enrolled. Each patient was treated for 3 sessions at 2-week intervals. A 532-nm Q-switched Nd:YAG laser was used on the left side and 1,064-nm on the right side of each lesion. Both objective and subjective parameters were assessed 1 and 3 months after the last treatment session. Darkness score, photographic assessment and patient satisfaction, and improvement of itch were recorded, respectively.
Results: Seventeen patients completed the study. The color score changes of both sides demonstrated that although both lasers were effective in reducing the pigmentation, the 1,064-nm wavelength had a more significant response. Similar results were obtained for the photographic evaluations and patient satisfaction scores. These changes were sustained throughout the 3 month follow-up.
Conclusion: Both lasers were effective in the treatment of pigmentation abnormalities caused by Lifa disease. However, the efficacy was greater with the 1,064-nm wavelength.