Rosacea or photodamaged skin? Use of brimonidine gel in differentiating erythema in the two conditions.

In this case report, we detail the response of a 37-year-old Caucasian man with an overlap of erythematotelangiectatic rosacea and telangiectatic photoaging to brimonidine tartrate gel. With the application of brimonidine only on half of his face, skin analysis images, clinician's and patient's assessment showed that there was significant improvement in the erythema. This case has lent insight into how brimonidine can be used to assess the extent of photoaging by eliminating the erythema of rosacea to some degree. We propose that it can be used as a non-invasive test to differentiate between the two conditions, sparing patients from skin biopsies and molecular analysis.