Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging for the Objective Assessment of Blood Perfusion in Keloids Treated With Dual-Wavelength Laser Therapy

BACKGROUND Most of the widely used methods for the assessment of keloid treatment are subjective grading scales based on the opinion of an individual clinician or patient. There is a growing need for objective methods to evaluate keloid treatment. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to evaluate the value of laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) as an objective method for the assessment of dual-wavelength laser therapy for keloids. METHODS This prospective study included 21 patients with 54 keloids. All patients were treated with a combined 585-nm pulsed dye laser and 1,064 nm neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet dual-wavelength laser at 4 weeks to 6 weeks intervals. Keloids were assessed using the Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS) and LSCI. RESULTS The total VSS score significantly decreased after 4 sessions of treatment (p < .05). Blood perfusion in keloids as measured by LSCI was significantly reduced after treatment (p < .05). The improvement of chest keloids in terms of the total VSS score and blood perfusion was significantly greater than that of scapular keloids (p < .05). There was a positive correlation between decreased perfusion and reduced total VSS score (R2 = 0.84). CONCLUSION Blood perfusion in keloids significantly decreased after dual-wavelength laser therapy. Laser speckle contrast imaging is a promising objective method for assessing the improvement of keloids treated with laser therapy.