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William M. Ramsdell, MD

Arch Facial Plast Surg. 2009;11(1):62-63.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

I congratulate Ward and Baker¹ for their review of carbon dioxide laser resurfacing. This is a procedure that has fallen into disrepute in recent years despite its potential to provide outstanding results unachievable with other modalities. I have treated hundreds of patients since 1995, and patient satisfaction has been very high. This has been documented by others as well.² Adverse effects, such as acne, erythema, and hyperpigmentation, are temporary and treatable. Scarring should never occur in experienced hands. The one truly significant adverse effect that has caused carbon dioxide resurfacing to lose favor is hypopigmentation, which can be unpredictable and resistant to treatment.

Regarding hypopigmentation, I am confused by the authors' statement that "nearly all patients experience some degree of hypopigmentation."^1(p238) This seems to contradict the findings of their own series of 47 patients in which 6 (13%) developed hypopigmentation. Perhaps the discrepancy is attributable to . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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RELATED ARTICLE

Long-term Results of Carbon Dioxide Laser Resurfacing of the Face
P. Daniel Ward and Shan R. Baker
Arch Facial Plast Surg. 2008;10(4):238-243.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT