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Improvement of infraorbital hyperpigmentation following carbon dioxide laser resurfacing
1Washington Institute of Dermatologic Laser Surgery, Washington, DC, USA.
Background:
Many patients who request cutaneous carbon dioxide (CO2) laser resurfacing for correction of periorbital rhytides also complain of "dark circles" under their eyes.
Objective:
This study was conducted in order to determine the effectiveness of high-energy pulsed CO2 laser treatment in reducing infraorbital hyperpigmentation.
Results:
Significant lightening of infraorbital hyperpigmentation was observed 9 weeks following CO2 laser resurfacing. Melanin reflectance spectrometry readings did not correlate with clinical findings.
Conclusions:
This study represents the first report of the successful use of a non-pigment-specific laser system for the treatment of infraorbital dark circles. The lack of correlation of melanin spectrometry readings with clinical assessment likely represents an insufficient follow-up time period.