ASDS Abstract Highlights Potential of ALA-PDT

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) with aminolevulonic acid (ALA) was the topic of the top 10 abstract “Fine Wrinkles and the Art of Light,” presented by Luke Horton, MD, at the 2024 American Society for Dermatologic Surgery (ASDS) Annual Meeting.

Dr. Horton performed a study along with Milan Hirpara, BS; Sarah Choe, BS; Joel Cohen, MD; and Natasha Mesinkovska, MS, PhD. They analyzed pre-operative and 12-week post-operative photographs of patients treated with a blue light protocol involving a 120-minute incubation period and a 16-minute, 40-second treatment period.

Three physician reviewers scored the before-and-after photographs, using the Global Aesthetic Improvement Scale (GAIS), the Solar lentigines scale, and the Merz scale to rate locations (forehead, glabella, crow’s feet, marionette lines, nasolabial folds and lip wrinkles).

Average improvements of 1.27 in GAIS score (SD 0.67) and 1.03 on the Solar lentigines scale (SD 0.46) were observed. The average Merz score changes with the blue light protocol (forehead -0.42, glabella -0.67, crow’s feet -0.76, marionette lines -0.67, nasolabial folds -0.48, lip wrinkles -0.63) were compared with those of a previous study on rhytidectomy and CO2 laser treatment (forehead not reported, glabella not reported, crow’s feet -0.33, marionette lines-0.83, nasolabial folds -0.33, lip wrinkles -0.67).

Dr. Horton concluded that ALA-PDT has the potential to rejuvenate the immune microenvironment, which may contribute to the rejuvenative effects of PDT.

“(This is) a possible additional selling point when counseling patients on their field therapy treatment options,” Dr. Horton said.