Light in the treatment of acne vulgaris

The state of the art in the treatment of acne vulgaris with photodynamic therapy is summarized. Since 2000 several clinical trials have been done, showing the efficacy of photodynamic therapy with 5-aminolevulinic acid and methylaminolevulinic acid in the treatment of acne vulgaris. However, treatment with photodynamic therapy is often associated with pain during illumination.Therefore the influence of several variables on the side-effects will be discussed as well.