Photoletter to the editor: Topical 0.5% brimonidine gel to camouflage redness of immature scars

Cutaneous scars develop as a result of a defective wound healing process. Scars are commonly visible as erythematous, sometimes disfiguring lesions which might be stigmatizing for the affected patient. Only a few therapies to improve the appearance of scars are available. Recently, brimonidine - a selective α2-receptor-agonist which causes vasoconstriction of small cutaneous vessels - was approved for the treatment of erythemato-telangiectatic rosacea. Topical brimonidine might also be helpful to improve redness of immature scars. Here we report on the effect of brimonidine 0.5% gel on a flat, erythematous scar in a 25-year-old female patient. Whitening of the scar could be observed immediately after application of brimonidine 0.5% gel and a good clinical result was observed within one hour. This effect lasted for up to three hours. We conclude that brimonidine 0.5% gel is a suitable topical therapy to reduce erythema in visible cutaneous scars.