This study compares three approaches to treating persistent facial redness in adults with erythematotelangiectatic rosacea: intense pulsed light (IPL) treatment alone, a professional anti-redness dermocosmetic skincare regimen alone, and the combination of both. The main question the study aims to answer is which of these three strategies is more effective at reducing facial redness, using both clinician grading and objective skin-imaging tools that measure redness and skin texture before and after treatment.
This was a prospective, single-center, three-arm comparative study conducted in an outpatient setting, with 60 adult patients with a dermatologist-confirmed diagnosis of erythematotelangiectatic rosacea allocated to one of three parallel treatment groups (20 patients per group). No randomization or blinding was performed. Group 1 (IPL) received three intense pulsed light treatments with the Lumecca applicator (InMode; 515-1200 nm) at 21-day intervals, with fluence individually titrated to skin response; broad-spectrum SPF 50+ sunscreen was applied after each session, and daily photoprotection was mandatory. Group 2 (dermocosmetic) received four professional in-office anti-redness treatments using the Rosacure Professional system (Synchroline/Cantabria Labs) at 7-day intervals - gentle cleansing, application of Rosacure Professional Serum Booster, and a leave-on regenerating gel mask - together with a standardized 12-week home-care regimen (twice-daily gentle cleanser, Rosacure Intensive SPF 30 in the morning, Rosacure Fast in the evening, and a leave-on mask twice weekly). Group 3 (combination) received the same three IPL treatments as Group 1, immediately followed within the same session by the professional Rosacure protocol, at 21-day intervals, together with the same home-care regimen used in Group 2. Facial redness was assessed using objective imaging (Antera 3D chromophore mapping and Gray-Level Co-occurrence Matrix texture analysis) and by clinician grading, at baseline, 2 weeks after the treatment series, and 8 weeks after the treatment series.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
IPL treatment (515-1200 nm) delivered with the Lumecca applicator (InMode, Irvine, CA, USA), administered as three sessions at 21-day intervals with fluence individually titrated to skin response.
Professional in-office anti-redness regimen (Rosacure Professional system: gentle cleansing, Rosacure Professional Serum Booster, leave-on regenerating gel mask) plus a standardized 12-week home-care regimen (Rosacure Intensive SPF 30 mornings, Rosacure Fast evenings, leave-on mask twice weekly), manufactured by Synchroline/Cantabria Labs, Spain.
Medical University of Silesia
Sosnowiec, Poland
Antera 3D Erythema Index (Mean, Minimum, and Maximum)
Erythema quantified via the Antera 3D camera (Miravex, Dublin, Ireland), which reconstructs hemoglobin distribution from multidirectional, multispectral light reflectance and expresses erythema on a reproducible relative scale. For each patient and time point, three erythema indices - mean, minimum, and maximum - were extracted for the left and right cheek and averaged into a single value per index.
Time frame: Baseline, 2 weeks after the treatment series, and 8 weeks after the treatment series
GLCM Contrast
Gray-Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) texture parameter quantifying local brightness variation of the erythematous facial skin from cross-polarized photographs (8-bit grayscale, 256×256 co-occurrence matrix, horizontal offset θ=0°, distance d=1); higher values indicate a more irregular, mottled erythema. Left and right cheek values averaged per patient.
Time frame: Baseline, 2 weeks after the treatment series, and 8 weeks after the treatment series
GLCM Homogeneity
Gray-Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) texture parameter quantifying surface uniformity of the erythematous facial skin; higher values indicate more uniform erythema. Derived from the same cross-polarized photographs and co-occurrence matrix as GLCM contrast. Left and right cheek values averaged per patient.
Time frame: Baseline, 2 weeks after the treatment series, and 8 weeks after the treatment series
Clinician Erythema Assessment (CEA) Score
Semi-quantitative 5-point ordinal scale (0-4) graded by trained dermatologists, where 0 = no visible erythema and 4 = severe, intense redness; mean of scores from three independent raters.
Time frame: Baseline, 2 weeks after the treatment series, and 8 weeks after the treatment series
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NONE
Enrollment
60