Role of carbon dioxide laser in treatment of xanthelasma palpebrarum

Abstract

Background:Xanthelasma palpebrarum (XP) is the commonest form of xanthomas which develop over eye lids. Carbon dioxide (CO2) LASERs are considered the ideal therapy for xanthelasma. Objectives:The aim of this work was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CO2 LASER in the therapy of XP. Methods: The current work was carried out on 15 cases presented with XP to be treated by CO2 LASER. For all cases, assessment of the degree of clinical improvement, cases' content and side effects were done. Results: Regarding assessment of the degree of clinical improvement, 11 xanthelasma cases (173-3%) showed excellent improvement, and 4 cases (26.7%) showed very good improvement. Regarding cases’ content, 8 cases (53.3%) were very contented, 4 cases (26.7%) were contented, 2 cases (13.3%) were slightly contented, and one case (6.7%) was uncontented. Regarding side effects, all the 15 cases (100%) showed pain, erythema and superficial crustation, 9 cases (60%) showed edema and 5 cases (33.3%) showed scarring, 6 cases (40.0%) post inflammatory hyperpigmentation and no cases showed recurrence of the lesions during the follow up period. Conclusions: Carbon dioxide LASER is an excellent modality in the therapy of xanthelasma but its side effects must considered.