Subclinical effects of botulinum toxin A and microwave thermolysis for axillary hyperhidrosis: A descriptive study with line-field confocal optical coherence tomography and histology

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Botulinum toxin A (BTX) and microwave thermolysis (MWT) are standard axillary hyperhidrosis treatments, but comparison of their subclinical effects is lacking. Line-field confocal optical coherence tomography (LC-OCT) is a promising non-invasive imaging tool for visualizing tissue-interactions. This study aimed to describe subclinical effects of BTX and MWT for axillary hyperhidrosis with LC-OCT-imaging compared to histology. This study derived from an intra-individual, randomized, controlled trial, treating axillary hyperhidrosis with BTX versus MWT. Subclinical effects based on LC-OCT images from baseline and 6-month follow-up (n = 8 patients) were evaluated and compared to corresponding histological samples. At baseline, LC-OCT visualized eccrine pores at the skin surface and ducts in the upper dermis (500 μm), but not deeper-lying sweat glands. Histology identified entire sweat glands. Six months post-treatment, LC-OCT revealed no detectable morphology changes in any BTX-treated axillae (100%), while recognizing obstructed eccrine pores and atrophy of eccrine ducts in most MWT-treated axillae (75%). Histology corroborated LC-OCT findings, while also showing substantial changes to entire sweat glands. LC-OCT enabled visualization of subclinical alterations of superficial eccrine ducts after MWT and unchanged morphology after BTX. LC-OCT is a promising tool for non-invasive assessment of treatment-specific tissue-interactions that can be complementary to histology.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere15110
JournalExperimental Dermatology
Volume33
Issue number6
Number of pages6
ISSN0906-6705
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s). Experimental Dermatology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

    Research areas

  • botulinum toxin, energy-based devices, hyperhidrosis, imaging, LC-OCT, line-field confocal optical coherence tomography, microwave thermolysis, sweat glands

ID: 395865573