Becker's naevus: a comparative study between erbium: YAG and Q-switched neodymium:YAG; clinical and histopathological findings.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Becker's naevus (BN) may represent a distressing cosmetic handicap and a challenging issue regarding treatment. OBJECTIVES: To compare clinical and histopathological findings of patients with BN treated with two different lasers an erbiumyttrium-aluminium-garnet (ErYAG) system vs. a neodymiumYAG (NdYAG) laser. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this prospective and comparative study we present the clinical and histopathological evolution during a 2-year follow-up of 22 patients with BN treated with only one pass of the ErYAG laser (n = 11) or three treatment sessions with the Q-switched NdYAG system (n = 11). RESULTS: Clinical evaluation 2 years after treatment with the ErYAG laser showed complete clearance (100%) in 54% of the patients (n = 6) and clearance of > 50% in 100% of the subjects. In relation to NdYAG laser treatments our results echo those of other authors. Numerous sessions are necessary to get an acceptable clinical clearance rate. Only one patient showed marked clearance (51-99%) after three treatment sessions. Moderate (26-50%) and mild (1-25%) clearance was observed in 45.5% (n = 5) and 27.3% (n = 3) of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: Both ErYAG and NdYAG are safe tools to treat BN. However, in terms of pigment removal, one pass with ErYAG is a superior technique to three treatment sessions with the NdYAG.