Laser treatment of port-wine stains

Lori A Brightman,¹ Roy G Geronemus,¹ Kavitha K Reddy<sup>2

1</sup>Laser and Skin Surgery Center of New York, New York, NY, USA; ²Department of Dermatology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA

Abstract: Port-wine stains are a type of capillary malformation affecting 0.3% to 0.5% of the population. Port-wine stains present at birth as pink to erythematous patches on the skin and/or mucosa. Without treatment, the patches typically darken with age and may eventually develop nodular thickening or associated pyogenic granuloma. Laser and light treatments provide improvement through selective destruction of vasculature. A variety of vascular-selective lasers may be employed, with the pulsed dye laser being the most common and well studied. Early treatment produces more optimal results. Advances in imaging and laser treatment technologies demonstrate potential to further improve clinical outcomes.

Keywords: laser, port-wine stain, capillary vascular malformation, vascular birthmark, selective photothermolysis, photodynamic therapy, intense pulsed light

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