INTRODUCTION Melasma is a common chronic, acquired pigmentation disorder with a significant impact on the quality of life of patients. AIM To investigate the etiopathogenetic factors, thyroid functions and thyroid autoimmunity in patients with melasma. MATERIAL AND METHODS Forty-five women with melasma and 45 age-matched healthy women were included in the study group. A detailed history was...

Background Melasma is a difficult-to-treat hyperpigmentary disorder. Ablative fractional laser (AFL)-assisted delivery of topically applied drugs to varied targets in the skin has been an area of ongoing study and research. Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of fractional erbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Er:YAG) laser as an assisted drug deliver...

BACKGROUND Melasma is a common acquired disorder characterized by symmetric, hyperpigmented patches with an irregular outline, occurring most commonly on the face. It is most prevalent among young to middle-aged women. Although iron overload affects skin pigmentation, effect of iron deficiency on skin is not clear. So, we evaluated serum iron level, ferritin and total iron binding capacity (TIB...

BACKGROUND : Melasma is common and can cause major psychological impact. To date, the mainstay of treatment, including various hypopigmenting agents and chemical peels, is ineffective and can cause adverse effects. Laser is a new approach and is yet to be explored for its efficacy and safety. OBJECTIVE : To compare combined Ultrapulse CO2 laser and Q-switched alexandrite laser (QSAL) with QSA...

Melasma Confocal Microscopy in Diagnosis and Management of Melasma: Review of Literature Dimitris Sgouros1*, Giovanni Pellacani2, Alexandros Katoulis1, Dimitris Rigopoulos1 and Caterina Longo3 12nd Department of Dermatology, “ATTIKON” University Hospital of Athens, Athens, Greece 2Department of Dermatology, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy 3Dermatology and Skin Cancer Unit,...

Melasma is an acquired dark-brown to ashen-gray hypermelanosis with mottled patterns and is found in the exposed areas (forehead, malar eminences, upper lip, chin, neck, etc.). Although melasma is believed to be associated with pregnancy, including several other factors such as genetic, racial, endocrine, and nutritional, exposure to sunlight appears to be one of the primary causes of its exace...

Melasma is a dysregulation of the homeostatic mechanisms that control skin pigmentation and excess pigment is produced. Traditional treatment approaches with topical medications and chemical peels are commonly used but due to the refractory and recurrent nature of melasma, patients often seek alternative treatment strategies such as laser and light therapy. Several types of laser and light ther...

Treatment of melasma, a hyperpigmentation disorder, remains a challenge. The primary objective of two 8-week, multicenter, randomized, investigator-blind studies was to compare the efficacy and safety of a hydrophilic cream formulation containing tretinoin 0.05%, hydroquinone 4.0%, and fluocinolone acetonide 0.01% (RA+HQ+FA) with the dual-combination agents tretinoin plus hydroquinone (RA+HQ), ...

Background: Melasma is a common acquired pigmentary disorder that aesthetically displeasing. Kligman’s and Modified formula using topical steroids, hydroquinone retinoids, various other depigmenting agents being widely used all over for melasma with varying results. Chemical peeling newly added to the therapeutic armamentarium showing encouraging results worldwide in patients melasma. However, ...

Known as the “pregnancy mask,” over six million Americans are impacted by hormonally induced melasma every year, making it one of the most common skin concerns in the United States. Affecting female patients in 90% of cases, melasma appears in large, dense patches of pigmentation, usually on the malar, mandibular and centrofacial areas of the face. Although melasma can affect anyone, it tends t...