Background. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a common disease in Iran, espe cially i n the north-east, central and southern parts of the country. Many treatments h ave been suggested for this disease but none is completely effective and without side-effects such as pain, arthralgia and renal or cardiac complications. Las ers have been used for treatment of several skin diseases since 1970, and CO2 la sers are now being used for treatment of leishmaniasis. In this study, a CO2 las er (Sonic 500 machine)-was used as a source of a continuous CO2 laser wave. Me thods. Atotal of 123 patients (68 female and 55male) with 183 lesions were treat ed with the CO2 laser. The maximum power was 100 W and the pulse width was 0.5- 5 s. For the control group, 110 patients (with 250 lesions) were treated with g lucantime 50 mg/kg/day for 15 days and, after 15 days of rest, this treatment wa s repeated (GlucantimeAmps, 1.5 g in a 50- mLsolution,was used). For follow-u p, the patients were visited 1, 3, 4, 8, 12 and 24 weeks after treatment and any complications, recurrences or other wound characteristics were recorded. In the second group, Finally, all collected data were analyzed statistically. Results. Statistical analysis with the χ 2 test showed that treatment with the CO2 lase r was more effective than treatment with glucantime (P=0.0007). Complications we re also seen less often with the laser treatment than with glucantime and were l imited to the ulcer site. The CO2 laser was more effective in treating cutaneous leishmaniasis than glucantime (1.12 times), had fewer side-effects (4.5% vs . 24% ) and resulted in a shorter healing time (1 month vs. 3 months), and trea tment could be applied in a single session. Conclusions. The results of this and previous studies suggest that cutaneous leishmaniasis can be treated effectivel y with CO2 laser if those providing the treatment are sufficiently experienced. Laser treatment is more cost-effective than other treatments and can be used a s first-line therapy for cutaneous leishmaniasis (wet and dry types).
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