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Review

Laser treatment of port-wine stains

          

Authors Brightman L, Geronemus R, Reddy K

Received 13 October 2014

Accepted for publication 1 December 2014

Published 12 January 2015 Volume 2015:8 Pages 27—33

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/CCID.S53118

Checked for plagiarism Yes

Review by Single-blind

Peer reviewer comments 5

Editor who approved publication: Dr Jeffrey Weinberg


Lori A Brightman,1 Roy G Geronemus,1 Kavitha K Reddy2

1Laser 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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