Treatment of oral herpes simplex virus infections by photodynamic therapy with a diode lamp: a pilot study

Introduction: Or HSV) infection is one of the most common oral so lation. Many topical and systemic therapies are reported to be effective in lesions treatment. Scientifc Literature reported many cases of recurrent herpes lesions successfully treated with photodynamic therapy (PDT). PDT is based on the interaction of a photosensitizer and light irradiation in oxygenated tissue. This combination leads to arelated bacterial cell damage. Methylene blue (MB) and Toluidine blue are the most used photosensitizers. We want to propose a pilot study with 10 patients for the treatment of Herpes simplex infection with photodynamic therapy effected by a 630nm diode lamp and associated photosensitizer. Materials and Methods: Ten patients are included in this pilot study, 4 of them with herpes simplex lesions on the hard palate, 5 of the them in the lips, 1 in gingival tissues. All patients are treated with single sessions of photodynamic therapy performed by 630 nm length light irradiation and a Toluidine blue solution as a photosensitizer. A Toluidine-based fuid topical preparation was applied over each lesion and was exposed to 10 cycles of 30 seconds of LED light irradiation with long tip, remaining at about 0.5 cm from the lesion. Subsequently, a gauze is used to remove the dye. Results: All patients healed at day 7; 6 of them at day 2 are free of symptoms (3 in hard palate, 1 gum lesion, 2 in lips); 2 of them at the day 4 are completely healed (1 in hard palate, 1 in lip); 2 of them at the day 7 have no signs of lesions (in the lip). Conclusions: In our study we found that the 630 nm diode lamp is safe and effective and reduce the time of healing of herpes simplex virus lesions.