ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of photodynamic therapy (PDT) in the treatment of different types of rosacea,and to evaluate its benefit by comparing its efficacy with 10％ sodium sulfacetamide and 5％ sulfur emollient foam.Methods Forty-three subjects with rosacea were enrolled in this study.They were randomized to be treated with PDT (twenty-three subjects) or 10％ sodium sulfacetamide and 5％ sulfur emollient foam (twenty subjects).PDT group subjects received PDT once every seven to ten days for three times while the 10％ sodium sulfacetamide or 5％sulfur emollient foam was applied 2 times per day for thirty days in the other group.Digital photographs were taken before and after one month of treatment in both groups.Blinded independent physicians graded improvement based on these photographs utilizing a percentile evaluation scale.A more than sixty percent remission proved the treatment to be effective.All the complications occurred during the therapy were taken notes and their severity was classified by the subjects.Two dermatology life quality index forms were completed before and after treatment by the subjects to evaluate the change in terms of their quality of life.Results After one month of treatment,PDT proved to be effective on sixty-five percent of subjects (seventy-one percent on papulopustular rosacea and fifty percent on erythematotelangiectatic rosacea).The emollient foam proved to be effective on thirty-five percent of subjects.Statistically significant difference was observed between the overall effective rate of PDT and emollient foam (P＜0.05).In addition,a greater improvement in terms of the quality of life was experienced by the PDT group subjects.No irreversible adverse event was observed in both groups during the study.Conclusions PDT proves to be an effective and safe treatment for rosacea with satisfactory efficacy,significant improvement in patients' quality of life and few irreversible side effects.