Phototherapy for acne: what is the best approach?

Abstract

Inflammatory acne vulgaris remains one of the most common dermatologic disorders seen in clinical practice. Medical therapy remains the gold standard for therapy, but recent advances have shown that a variety of lasers and light sources may be useful in the treatment of inflammatory acne vulgaris. Furthermore, the use of 20% 5-aminolevulinic acid has found a useful niche in the treatment of moderate-to-severe inflammatory acne vulgaris. Keywords: acne vulgaris • ALA-PDT • blue light • intense pulsed light • lasers and light sources • methyl ALA• Propionibacterium acnes • pulsed dye laser Phototherapy for acne: what is the best approach? Expert Rev. Dermatol. 5(2), 159-172 (2010) For reprint orders, please contact reprints@expert-reviews.com Expert Review of Dermatology Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by Emory University on 08/18/15For personal use only.