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Multimodal Clinical Imaging Assessment of the Outcome in Mild-to-Moderate Acne: A Prospective Study
Athanassios Kyrgidis1, Markus Becker2, Vasiliki Zampeli2
1Division of Evidence-Based Dermatology, Departments of Dermatology, Venereology, Allergology and Immunology, Dessau Medical Center, Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane, Dessau, Germany.
Background:
The quality of outcome assessment in acne studies has been either subjective/insufficient or time consuming through the ordinary lesion counting.
Objective:
To evaluate the application of multimodal clinical imaging (MCI), a combination of imaging technology and computation, in the assessment of acne lesions in a clinical study setting.
Methods:
A prospective, monocentric, single-group open study designed to evaluate the efficacy and tolerance of a cosmetic product (IP/SG) in subjects with mild-to-moderate facial acne by classical clinical counting (CCC) - change in the total/inflammatory/noninflammatory acne lesion number compared with baseline (D0) - Investigator Global Assessment (IGA) and self-reported outcomes. Concomitantly, MCI was administered. The study was performed for 12 weeks (D84) with a 4-week follow-up (D112).
Results:
Mean age of patients (n = 49) was 18.2 ± 3.7 years (range 13-25). The mean acne duration was 3.8 ± 2.8 years. The total number of lesions did not differ significantly between D0/D84 by both CCC and MCI. However, the Cardiff Acne Disability Index (CADI) and uncomfortable feeling improved at D28/D0, the perception of oily skin improved at D14/D0, and the perception of sticky skin improved from D28/D0 to D56/D0. Deterioration was detected between D84/D0 and D112/D0, namely after product discontinuation. Interestingly, a change in trend was recorded for acne lesions at D14/D0 by MCI but not by CCC.
Conclusion:
MCI, applied for the first time in a small clinical study setting, is at least as reliable as CCC and may allow for a sensitive longitudinal evaluation of single acne lesions and their response to products, especially in conditions where clinical evaluation reaches its limits.
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