A Retrospective Study on Laser Treatment of Nevus of Ota in Thai Patients

Nevus of Ota is a benign dermal melanocytic nevus found most commonly in Asians. About 50-60% of all cases have the age of onset at birth or within the first year of life, others appear before puberty. It typically presents as a unilateral mottled blue-gray macules and patches distributed along the first and second branches of trigeminal nerve. Due to its marked hyperpigmentation on the face which does not resolved spontaneously, patients may experience psychosocial disturbances and often seek for treatments. Based on selective photothermolysis theory, Q-switched lasers (ruby 694nm, alexandrite 755nm, Nd:YAG 1064nm) have been used for the treatment of nevus of Ota with a success rate of 95% after 6-8 sessions. Reported complications from the lasers are hypopigmentation(15.3%), hyperpigmentation(2.9%), texture changes (2.9%), and scarring (1.9%). Siriraj Skin Laser Center provides laser treatment for nevus of Ota using mainly Q-switched Nd:YAG laser and Picosecond laser. The study of efficacy and complications of Q-switched Nd:YAG and Picosecond laser in the treatment of Nevus of Ota in Thai patients has never been reported. Therefore, we conduct a retrospective study on efficacy and complication of laser treatment (Q-switched Nd:YAG and picosecond laser) of nevus of Ota in Thai patients.