Photodynamic therapy for the treatment of erythema, papules, pustules, and severe flushing consistent with rosacea.

We report a case of a 45-year-old woman who presented with facial erythema, papules, pustules, and severe flushing consistent with rosacea. The patient had failed standard pharmacologic treatments. The patient's flushing was so severe that she had undergone an elective sympathectomy. She received 6 sessions of photodynamic therapy (PDT) with 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA as Levulan Kerastick, Dusa Pharmaceuticals) given at 2-week intervals. Improvement was evident after the second treatment and was considered "excellent" after the sixth treatment. Improvement continued and no flares were observed 1 month after the final treatment.