ABSTRACT
Acne vulgaris is an exceedingly common multifactorial
disease of the pilosebaceous unit, believed to affect
approximately 40 million adolescents and 25 million
It is thought to be physiologic
in adolescence due to its affect on nearly 85% of young
However,
12% of adult women and 3% of adult men will have
Many authors have
described that, in addition to long-term scarring, which
can be disfiguring, patients with acne often carry signif-
icant psychosocial morbidity, including anxiety, sleep
disturbances, clinical depression, and suicide. 4-8
In many cases, acne can be successfully treated using
conventional topical or oral medications such as
antibacterials, antimicrobials, and retinoids. However,
this approach often has drawbacks involving side-effect
profiles, length of treatment, and patient compli-
With oral retinoids, practitioners are faced
with federally mandated paperwork that takes not only
time, but also several patient visits in order to deliver
For the subset of patients who have failed these
treatment modalities, laser and light-based systems
have emerged as standalone and adjunct therapies.
