"Drug-resistant granuloma faciale": treatment with carbon dioxide-GaAs laser

Granuloma faciale (GF), also known as "eosinophilic granuloma," is a rare benign leukocytoclastic vasculitis which most commonly occurs on the face of middle-aged Caucasian males. Clinically, GF appears as single or multiple, slowly growing, reddish-brown papules, nodules or plaques which may be cosmetically unpleasant. Its pathogenesis is unknown and GF is notoriously resistant to treatments. Both medical (dapsone, colchicine, gold injections, isoniazid, clofazimine, corticosteroids, psoralen ultraviolet radiation, and topical tacrolimus) and surgical therapies (excision, graft, dermabrasion, argon laser, carbon dioxide laser, pulsed dye laser, cryotherapy, and electrosurgery) have been used for GF but no effective treatment has yet been found. Furthermore, the typical facial location of GF requires an acceptable cosmetic result. We report two cases of drug-resistant GF which were successfully treated with laser vaporization combining two different wavelengths: carbon dioxide (CO₂ ) 10,600 nm and GaAs 1540 nm.