title: [Treatment of vascular malformations and pigment disorders of the face and neck by pulsed dye laser, Photoderm VL and Q-switched ruby laser].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Two new types of lasers, the pulsed dye laser and the Q-switched ruby laser, have shown good to excellent results in the treatment of vascular malformations and benign pigmented lesions of the skin. A new and very effective alternative to pulsed dye laser is the recently introduced Photoderm VL. This device is based on the use of a wide-band non-coherent intense pulsed light source which emits a continuous spectrum in the range of 515 nm to 1200 nm.
  
  
  METHODS
  More than a 1000 patients with a variety of lesions of the skin were treated by these new laser systems and the Photoderm VL. The Q-switched ruby laser (wavelength 694 nm, pulse duration 25 ns) is suitable for the treatment of benign lentigines, café-au-lait macules, seborrhoic ceratosis, tattoos, and traumatic tattoos. The pulsed dye laser (585 nm, 0,3-0,45 ms) treats nevi flammei, capillary hemangiomas, telangiectasias, xanthelasma, hypertrophic scarring, and adenoma sebaceum. In addition we present the facilities of the new Photoderm VL (515 nm-1200 nm, 0,5-20 ms) for the treatment of nevi flammei, benign hemangiomatous malformations, telangiectasias, erythrosis interfollicularis colli, hypertrophic scarring, and hypertrichosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  the Q-switched ruby laser, the pulsed dye laser, and the Photoderm VL show excellent results in the treatment of lesions of the skin, which otherwise would have been difficult to treat of untreatable. The efficiency of the laser types presented is based on the theory of selective photothermolysis. Scarring is almost never seen and hypo- or hyperpigmentation is in most cases transient.
authors.affiliation: Praxis für Dermatologie, Allergologie und Phlebologie, Karlsruhe.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hellwig
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schönermark
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Raulin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010859:Pigmentation Disorders / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
vernacular_title: Behandlung von Gefässmalformationen und Pigmentstörungen an Gesicht und Hals durch gepulsten Farbstofflaser, Photoderm VL und gütegeschalteten Rubinlaser.