MedEsthetics magazines offers business education and in-depth coverage of the latest noninvasive cosmetic procedures for physicians and practice managers working in the medical aesthetics industry.
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BEST PR ACTICES 12 MARCH 2015 | Med Esthetics Sclerotherapy for Chest Veins Patients who undergo sclerotherapy for reticular chest veins report high satisfaction with minimal adverse events. Daniel P. Friedmann, MD, FAAD, Mitchel P. Goldman, MD, FAAD, and Andres E. Cruz-Inigo, MD, performed a retrospective study of 12 patients who underwent a total of 14 treatment sessions with 0.25% to 0.5% sodium tetradecyl sulfate (STS) foam using a 1:4 liquid-air ratio. The patients were followed for a mean length of 3.7 years. Patients answered a telephone-based questionnaire on improvement and satisfaction following the procedure. Overall, patients reported scores of 2.4 ± 0.8 for overall improvement (0 = none, 1 = mild, 2 = moderate and 3 = complete resolution) and 1.75 ± 0.6 for satisfaction with results (0 = not satisfi ed at all, 1 = mildly satisfi ed and 2 = very satisfi ed) with minor treatment-related adverse events. The study, published in Dermatologic Surgery (January 2015), concluded, "Foam sclerotherapy with STS is effective for management of reticular veins of the chest with an excellent safety profi le and high long-term patient satisfaction." LEFT: IMAGES COURTESY OF GALDERMA; RIGHT: IMAGES COURTESY OF SUNEVA MEDICAL; BOTTOM: © GETTY IMAGES Bellafi ll Approved for Acne Scars Suneva Medical's long-term dermal fi ller Bellafi ll (formerly Artefi ll) has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the treatment of acne scars. In the double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled pivotal study, which included 10 U.S.-based clinical centers, Bellafi ll was shown to be safe and effective for the correction of moderate to severe, atrophic, distensible facial acne scars on the cheek in patients over the age of 21 when compared to subjects treated with saline injection. A responder was defi ned as a subject who had 50% or more of treated acne scars improve by two or more points on a validated 4-point Acne Scar Rating Scale (ASRS). At six months, the response rate for Bellafi ll was 64% vs. 33% for the control group (p = 0.0005). Bellafi ll continued to show effectiveness by an unblinded assessment at 12 months (71%). Subjects were asked to rate their level of satisfaction with acne scar correction treatment on a Subject Assessment of Scar Correction scale (SASC). At six months, 84% of subjects were satisfi ed while 90% were satisfi ed at 12 months. FDA Approves Novel Rosacea Treatment Soolantra (ivermectin) Cream 1% from Galderma has been FDA- approved for the once-daily topical treatment of infl ammatory lesions, bumps and pimples associated with rosacea. The approval was based on two pivotal Phase 3, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, 12-week, vehicle-controlled, parallel-group studies where Soolantra met each of its co-primary effi cacy endpoints. The onset of treatment effect was observed as early as week 2, with continuous improvement in patients with infl ammatory lesions. In long-term extensions to the 12-week studies, Soolantra Cream was also safe and well-tolerated for an additional 40 weeks (up to 52 weeks in total). In a separate head-to-head study, it was shown to be more effective than metronidazole 0.75% cream from as early as week 3 onwards. Some study subjects experienced a burning sensation and skin irritation while using Soolantra Cream. Though the cream's mechanism of action is as yet unknown, active ingredient ivermectin has been reported to have both anti-infl ammatory and antiparasitic activity. Before After Before After