REMOVAL OF COLORED TATTOOS WITH THE Q-SWITCHED ALEXANDRITE LASER

The Q-switched alexandrite laser at 760 nm and 50- to 100-ns pulse dur ation has been shown to effectively remove blue-black as well as green , red, and mauve in seven human subjects with colored tattoos. An aver age of 9.0 treatments were required to completely remove the green pig ment at an average fluence of 5.80 J/cm(2) compared with an average of 9.7 treatments at an average fluence of 6.10 J/cm(2) for red and an a verage of 10 treatments at an average fluence of 6.20 J/cm(2) for mauv e. Orange and yellow were unaffected by the alexandrite laser over a r ange of fluences tested.