Rosacea is a common cutaneous disorder characterized by facial erythema, papules and pustules and telangiectasias. The clinical manifestations of this disorder are distributed along the convexities of the face such as the cheeks, chin, nose and central aspects of the forehead.~The flushing and telangiectasias associated with erythematotelangietatic rosacea (ETR) are notoriously difficult to treat with standard medications. Patients with ETR have a lower threshold for irritation from topically applied drugs and these substances may even exacerbate their symptoms.~Pulsed dye laser (PDL) is widely considered as the treatment of choice for vascular malformations including telangiectasias, port wine stains and hemangiomas. Several studies have shown successful treatment of rosacea-associated telangiectasia and erythema with pulsed dye laser. Moreover, calcium dobesilate (2,5-dihydroxybenzene sulfonate) is a drug that inhibits vascular smooth muscle cell growth and inhibits cellular proliferation. As a synthetic inhibitor of fibroblast growth factor (FGF), calcium dobesilate targets angiogenic growth factors which lead to uncontrolled blood vessel growth. In light of the fact that angiogenesis has been implicated in erythematotelangietatic rosacea, calcium dobesilate will be useful in the treatment of this subtype of rosacea.~Thus, combination treatment with PDL and calcium dobsilate will act in a synergistic manner to reduce the erythema, flushing and telangectasia associated with erythematotelangietatic rosacea.~If the subject meets the inclusion criteria and informed consent is obtained, the subject will receive 2.5% calcium dobesilate get to apply to half of the face (randomized). The subject will also receive pulsed dye laser treatments to the whole face at two week intervals for a maximum of 3 treatments. The primary endpoint of this study will be the severity of rosacea at the end of the 20 week study.
The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of calcium dobesilate in combination with pulsed dye laser for the treatment of rosacea.