مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - Treatment results of glycolic acid and glycolic acid / topical lightening therapy in melasma: A retropective analysis

Author/Authors :

Ertam, İ Ege Üniversitesi - Tıp Fakültesi - Deri ve Zührevi Hastalıklar Anabilim Dalı, Turkey , Sezgin, A Ö Ege Üniversitesi - Tıp Fakültesi - Deri ve Zührevi Hastalıkları Anabilim Dalı, Turkey , Ünal, İ Ege Üniversitesi - Tıp Fakültesi - Deri ve Zührevi Hastalıkları Anabilim Dalı, Turkey

Abstract :

Introduction: The objective of this study is to examine the demographic properties of the melasma patients and the treatment response to only glycolic acid (GA) or GA + topical melasma skin lightening treatment.Materials and Methods: Between 2005 and 2009, 200 patients attending our clinic due to melasma were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into three groups: Only chemical peeling with GA (Group I), GA chemical peeling with topical treatment (Group II) and only topical treatment (Group III). Pretreatment and posttreatment MASI (Melasma Area and Severity Index) scores were calculated with the assessment of the patient’s photographs.Results: The mean age of the patients was 37.71±6.97 years. Pretreatment MASI scores were between 1.4-20.6 (7.64±3.82), MASI last scores were between 0.6-20 (4.62±3.30). There were 41 patients (20.5%) in Group I, 100 patients (50%) in Group II, 47 patients (23.5%) in Group III. When the difference between MASI first and last scores were evaluated separately (Group I and Group II), a statistically significant difference was found in both in two groups (p 0.05). Although the difference between MASI first and last scores in two groups were compared with each other, it was not found to be statistically significant (p 0.05).Conclusion: In this study, both in the usage of GA alone and combination with topical treatments, MASI was found to decrease significantly. However, there was no statistical difference in the proportion of the decrease of MASI between these two treatment modality.