Successful treatment of discoid lupus erythematosus with argon laser

Vascular lesions with telangiectasias on visible areas, such as the face, a re common in discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE); however, an efficient manag ement of these skin lesions can sometimes be difficult. Since argon laser l ight is able to specifically coagulate vascular structures, it has been use d in the treatment of various vascular skin malformations. Therefore, we ad dressed the issue whether argon laser treatment could be a therapeutic alte rnative for this disease. Here, we report on a patient with DLE, who suffer ed from long-standing erythematous, telangiectatic plaques on the face refr actory to standard regimens of therapy. After 2 laser applications, a signi ficant improvement was observed and after 5 sessions of argon laser therapy the treated skin lesions had completely resolved with an excellent cosmeti c result. The patient tolerated the laser treatment well without any short- term side effects. These data indicate that argon laser therapy might be a powerful alternative approach in the treatment of vascular skin lesions of DLE. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.