Nd:YAG Laser for Treating Facial Veins in frontal Fibrosing Alopecia

New Study Supports Benefits for Nd:YAG Laser

An interesting new study points to the potential benefits of using Nd:YAG laser for treating facial veins in women with FFA. Facial veins are often found in women with FFA and can occur even from the disease itself. Topical steroids may increase the chance that some patients develop veins.

In their study, researchers from the Cleveland Clinic identified 29 patients with facial vein prominence out of 128 patients (22.6%) diagnosed with FFA during 2006-2020. The 29 patients were all women with a median age of 58 years old at FFA onset (range 36-80). All 29 patients had prominence of the superficial temporal veins and their branches, and 15 patients had prominence of the terminal branches of the supratrochlear veins.

Twenty-four of the 29 patients had received local corticosteroid injections and/or topical corticosteroid solution/foam treatment prior to appearance of their prominent veins. 5 of the 29 (17.2%) patients received no corticosteroid treatment prior to appearance of the veins.

Treatment with Nd:YAG Laser in 5 Patients with FFA

Of the 29 FFA patients with prominent facial vasculature, five of them were treated with the Nd:YAG laser (parameters used: 3mm spot, 160 J/cm2 53 , 40 ms, 50/20 cooling, 1.5 Hz). These five patients were found to have somewhat similar characteristics as the full cohort of 29 patients. Four patients had a single one time treatment with the Nd:YAG laser, while one patient had two treatments six months apart. All five patients had significant improvement of the size and appearance of their facial veins.

A new study supports that use of NdYAG laser as a treatment option for prominent temple veins in women with frontal fibrosing alopecia.

Comment:

This is an interesting study. Good treatment options for facial veins in FFA are lacking. It’s an important topic. It’s difficult enough to have hair loss from FFA but the visible facial veins can be quite troublesome for many patients and increase anxiety. It’s difficult to camouflage these veins. Nd:YAG offers a potential benefit. This is a small study but all 5 patients benefitted and this can come even with few treatments.

This is an exciting study. The good safety, and limited treatments needed make it an important therapy to study further with more patient numbers.

REFERENCE

Sun et al. Characterization and Treatment of Prominent Facial Vasculature in the Setting of Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia J Am Acad Dermatol 2022 Jan 5;S0190-9622(22)00013-5.