Clinical experience in the treatment of port-wine stains with blebs.

BACKGROUND: The current modality of choice for the treatment of Port-wine stains (PWS) is laser photocoagulation. Laser therapy for the treatment of PWS, especially with a pulsed dye laser (PDL), has been proven safe and effective; however, because penetration of the PDL is too shallow for an effective ablation of the blebs, treatment of blebbed PWS, using PDL, may be insufficient.

OBJECTIVE: We demonstrated the clinical efficacy of a 1,064 nm long pulsed Nd:YAG laser with contact cooling device for blebbed PWS.

METHODS: Twenty one patients with blebbed PWS (Fitzpatrick skin types II-V) underwent a treatment, using a 1,064 nm long pulsed Nd:YAG laser with a contact cooling device at 8-week intervals. Treatments were done using 5~6 mm spot sizes at 20~30 ms and 95~170 J/cm(2). Laser parameters were adjusted in order to meet the needs of each individual patient's lesions.

RESULTS: All subjects tolerated the treatments well, and showed clinical improvement from blebs. Of the 21 patients, 18 of them experienced either moderate or excellent response.

CONCLUSION: Use of a 1,064 nm long pulsed Nd:YAG laser results in a greater depth of vascular coagulation. A 1,064 nm long pulsed Nd:YAG laser with contact cooling device may be regarded as a promising therapeutic option for the treatment of blebbed PWS.