Nowadays, about 12% of the European and 20% of the US population are tattooed. Rising concerns regarding consumer safety, led to legal restrictions on tattoo inks and permanent make-up (PMU) inks. Restrictions also include bans on certain hazardous colourants. Both ink types use organic pigments for colour-giving, plus inorganic pigments for white and black and colour tones. Pigments are only s...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Q-switched laser treatments are considered the standard method for removing both regular and traumatic tattoos. Recently, the removal of tattoo ink using ablative fractional lasers has been reported. Ablative fractional CO2 laser and q-switched ruby laser treatments were used in a split-face mode to compare the safety and efficacy of the two types of laser in removing a...

The ability to remove tattoo ink safely, efficiently and with minimal side effects has improved significantly in the past decade. With the introduction of quality switched (Q-switched or QS) lasers, older, unsafe techniques have all but fallen by the wayside. That said, many practitioners are still unclear as to the standards that should be used when implementing a tattoo removal protocol, even...

Background: More and more people of all age classes have a tattoo. Intriguingly, there are multiple prejudices in the general population and published data that concern tattooed persons, such as being criminals, having a low education, being alcohol or drug abusers, or more risky in their life style. Objective: To obtain and to evaluate sociodemographic data on tattooed persons, to investigate ...

BACKGROUND Although published results are inconsistent, it has been suggested that tattooing and piercing are risk factors for HBV and HCV infections. To examine whether tattooing and piercing do indeed increase the risk of infection, we conducted a study among people with multiple tattoos and/or piercings in The Netherlands who acquired their tattoos and piercings in The Netherlands and/or abr...

Background: Previously described methods for removal of tattoos are chemical, mechanical, surgical, termal and laser assited methods. Invention of the Q-switch mode, advanced the laser method, to be one of the most effective methods of tattoo removal. Objective: Comparing the tattoo removal and rate of lymphatic elimination of 3 different wavelengths of Q-switched Nd-YAG laser (532nm, 1064nm, c...

positive axillary lymph node on positron emission tomography/computed tomography in a thymoma patient with a tattoo. A 42-year old woman presented with a mediastinal tumour and left axillary lymphadenopathy (Fig. 1), 24 years after tattooing (Fig. 2). Thymectomy and diagnostic biopsy of the left axillary lymph nodes were performed. Histopathology showed a type A, Masaoka stage I thymoma, and re...