Luz intensa pulsada no fotoenvelhecimento: avalia？？o clínica, histopatológica e imuno-histoquímica

background: intense pulsed light has been used in the treatment of photoaging without a full understanding of its mechanism of action. objective: to study the effect of intense pulsed light on photoaging and on the skin immune response by means of a clinical and histopathological study, evaluating langerhans cells (cd1), expression of intercellular adhesion molecule, of cd4 and cd8 lymphocytes and quantification of collagen and elastic fibers. methods: in 2006 a total of 26 patients, aged 40 to 65 years, with phototypes ii to iii (fitzpatrick scale), were treated for photoaging using intense pulsed light in five sessions with a monthly interval. all the patients were subjected to histological and immunohistochemical evaluation 6 months after treatment. results: at the end of the treatment clinical improvement was observed in 76.92% of cases. this improvement was associated to a significant increase of collagen (51.33%) and elastic (44.13%) fibers. intense pulsed light treatment led to a reduction of cd4 lymphocytes and did not alter the amount of cd8 lymphocytes. it also led to a significant increase of small, nonectatic blood vessels, positive intercellular adhesion molecule. conclusion: facial treatment with intense pulsed light promoted major clinical improvement that was confirmed by histological examination of the skin. this technique is a good treatment option for skin photoaging because it is non-ablative, safe and effective