Cryosurgery in Becker's Nevus, Nevus Spilus and Congenital Nevocytic Nevus

Kim, Jin Hyoung; Myung, Ki Bum; Whang, Kyu Kwang

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Cryosurgery for epidermal pigment lesions such as Becker's nevus and nevus spilus could be inexpensive, simple and effective, but has not been published much in detail.
OBJECTIVE
We evaluated the clinical efficacy according to its determinants, complications and recurrence rate of the cryosurgery, and compared with those of pigment laser.
METHODS
Hard chalk dry ice were applied on the lesions of 17 patients with Becker's nevus, 8 patients with nevus spilus and 6 patients with congenital nevocytic nevus. Two freeze-thaw cycles per lesion were employed, freezing time was chosen arbitarily depending on the characteristics of each lesion. Nineteen patients of the above 31 patients were also treated with PLDL(xenon flashlamp -pumped dye laser: 2.5-3.0J/cm2) or PLTL (Q-Switched alexandrite laser: .5-8.5J/cm2). Accessible patients were evaluated by direct interview or phone.
RESULTS
1. The clinical efficacy of the cryosurgery was better in nevus spilus than in Becker's nevus or congenital nevocytic nevus. 2. In nevus spilus, the clinical efficacy of the cryosurgery was similar to that of pigment laser, while cryosurgery was more effective than laser surgery in Becker's nevus. 3. The most common complication was transient perilesional hyperpigmentation, which could be removed with chemical peeling or dermabrasion.
CONCLUSION
Cryosurgery for epidermal pigment lesions was an inexpensive, simple and effective procedure. In some cases, cryosurgery showed better results than pigment laser, and its efficacy may be improved by adjunctive laser treatment. The rate of recurrence after cryosurgery was lower than that of laser surgery. Cryosurgery would be recommendable for treating epidermal pigment lesions.