Efficacy and Safety of Precision Cryotherapy to Treat Seborrheic Dermatitis of the Scalp

BACKGROUND Recently, a new cryotherapy device that precisely controls skin temperature was developed. Precision cryotherapy (PC) can be a safe and alternative treatment modality for immune-related skin diseases that are difficult to treat by conventional cryotherapy because of serious adverse events. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy and safety of PC in scalp seborrheic dermatitis (SD). METHODS A single-arm, prospective trial was designed. Twenty-four patients with SD underwent 3 PC interventions 2 weeks apart. At the baseline, Week 6, and Week 8, overall improvements in Physician Global Assessment (PGA) and clinical severity scores were assessed. At each visit, the erythema index (EI) and transepidermal water loss were evaluated. The patients scored 9 subjective symptoms using a visual analog scale (VAS). RESULTS The itch VAS score decreased by 50.4% at Week 8. Blinded investigators reported improvement of PGA scores from 2.86 +/- 0.62 to 1.66 +/- 0.61 and clinical severity scores from 4.55 +/- 1.30 to 2.45 +/- 1.37. The average EI decreased by 19.6% at Week 8 (p < .05). CONCLUSION This study not only demonstrated the efficacy and safety of PC in scalp SD but it also revealed insights for PC being a promising treatment modality in immune-related skin diseases.