Surg Cosmet Dermatol. 2017;9(3):214-217
Introduction: Melasma is a pigmentation disorder that mainly affects women of childbearing age with high phototypes. Polypodium leucotomos has antioxidant, photoprotective and immuno-modulatory activity, and can be considered as an adjunctive treatment for melasma.
Objective: To evaluate the efficacy, in relation to quality of life and objective improvement, of the use of Polypodium leucotomos in the treatment of melasma.
Methods: Prospective and individualized study. Nine volunteers with melasma were submitted to treatment with Polypodium leucotomos for 45 days. MELASQoL, DLQI and MASI scores were calculated at the beginning (D0) and 45 days after (D45). Analysis of variance ANOVA with Tukey post-test for comparison be-tween D0 and D45 (p <0.05).
Results: All patients were females, mean age of 37.18 ± 6.78 years. Family history of melasma in 55.6%; 88.9% with unprotected photoexposure and use of estrogen. After 45 days of treatment with Polypodium leucotomos there was a significant reduction of ME-LASQoL and DLQI (p <0.05) and improvement of MASI in 55.6% of the patients.
Conclusions: There was improvement of MASI in 55.6% of patients after 45 days of treatment. In spite of the slight improvement in MASI, there was a reflex in the improvement of quality of life scores (DLQI and MELASQoL).
Keywords: MELANOSIS; POLYPODIUM; QUALITY OF LIFE; INDICATORS OF QUALITY OF LIFE