The aim of a new study published in Biomedical Optics Express was to develop the nondestructive optical diagnostic technique to predict the formation of keloid scars, in vivo.

Here, laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (LFS) was used to study the autofluorescence in the skin of patients with various types of head and neck cicatricial deformities.

The results elicited that unexpected results were obtained for endogenous fluorescence of lipofuscin. Meanwhile, significantly reduced autofluorescence of lipofuscin was registered, both in the intact and keloid scar tissues relative to the intact and scar tissues in patients with hypertrophic and normotrophic scars. Sensitivity and specificity achieved by LFS in keloid diagnosis were 81.8% and 93.9% respectively. High specificity was speculated to be due to changes in the reductive-oxidative balance in cells, as well as due to the proteolysis processes violation.

It was concluded that the evaluation of the lipofuscin autofluorescence in skin before any surgical intervention could predict the probability of the subsequent keloid scars formation.

Source: Biomedical Optics Express. 2020 Mar 2;11(4):1742-1751. doi: 10.1364/BOE.386029. eCollection 2020 Apr 1.