The scientific community and general public have been exposed to a series of
achievements attributed to a new area of knowledge: Nanotechnology. Both abroad and
in Brazil, funding agencies have launched programs aimed at encouraging this type of
research. Indeed, for many who come into contact with this subject it will be clear
the key role that chemical knowledge will play in the evolution of this subject. And
even more, will see that it is a science in which the basic structure is formed by
distilling different areas of inter-and multidisciplinary knowledge along the lines
of new paradigms. In this article, we attempt to clarify the foundations of
nanotechnology, and demonstrate their contribution to new advances in dermatology as
well as medicine in general. Nanotechnology is clearly the future.
BACKGROUNDOnychomycosis is a fungal infection of the nails caused in most cases by
dermatophytes Trichophyton rubrum and Trichophyton
mentagrophytes. Despite numerous available antifungal drugs for therapy of this
infection, the cure rate is low, with high rates of relapse after treatment and
side effects.OBJECTIVESTo present a new option for the treatment of onychomycosis, in search of a more
effective and rapid method than conventional ones.METHODSPatients underwent two sessions of CO2 fractional laser 10.600nm
associated with photodynamic therapy. Mycological and digital photography were
performed before and after the treatment.RESULTSMcNemar test with continuity correction and degrees of freedom = 1: for clinical
cure rate, 13.06, with p=0.00005; for mycological cure, 17.05, with p=0.00005; 72%
felt fully satisfied with the procedure.CONCLUSIONSThe use of fractional CO2 laser 10.600nm associated with photodynamic
therapy can be effective in the treatment of onychomycosis, decreasing the risk of
systemic lesions that may be triggered with prolonged use of oral antifungals.
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