Mollusca contagiosa. Treatment with the pulsed dye laser

Background and Objective. There is a wide variety of methods for the treatm ent of mollusca contagiosa. Especially with anxious children, most of them are not applicable because they are often invasive, painful,time intensive or difficult to conduct (e.g, if a stay in hospital is necessary). in order to verify the existing case reports, this paper evaluates the application of the pulsed dye laser as a possible therapy alternative in cases of mollu sca contagiosa. Patients/Methods. In a prospective study 20 patients with mollusca contagio sa were treated with the pulsed dye laser. Results. The therapy was well tolerated; no scars or pigment anomalies were observed. 95.9% of the lesions healed after the first treatment, the other 4.1% after the second. This larger study verifies the positive findings in dicated in case studies. Conclusions. For exposed sites,difficult cases or if other treatment method s have failed, the pulsed dye laser is an effective, quick, bloodless and e legant therapeutic alternative for mollusca contagiosa with a low rate of s ide effects.