Port-wine stains. An assessment of 5 years of treatment.
OBJECTIVE
To assess objectively the results of flashlamp-pumped dye laser treatment of port-wine stains (PWS).


METHODS
Pretreatment and posttreatment photographs were compared with the appearance of the lesion at follow-up examination. Clinical response was determined by assigning a percentage of lesional lightening score by 2 physicians and the patient, and by reflectance spectrophotometric measurements.


METHODS
University and university-affiliated health center.


METHODS
One hundred two patients (118 PWS) aged 1 month to 66 years (mean, 20 years; median, 16 years) treated from July 1, 1989, to June 30, 1994.


RESULTS
Eighteen (15.3%) of the 118 PWS had more than 90% lesional lightening (complete or almost complete response), 77 (65.3%) had lightening from 50% to 90% (good response), 21 (17.8%) had lightening from 11% to 49% (poor response), and 2 (1.7%) had lightening less than 10% (no response). Clinical response did not vary among age groups, but showed statistically significant differences between anatomical locations. A return of PWS after initial response was observed in patients who were seen more than 1 year following completion of treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
Treatment of PWS by flashlamp-pumped dye laser results in a good to complete response in most patients. Anatomical location of the lesion is a valuable prognostic indicator of response to treatment. The initially impressive results of flashlamp-pumped dye laser treatment of PWS may be tempered by the gradual return of the vascular lesion as time elapses after completion of therapy. Our experience indicates that PWS show a tendency to recur at a rate approaching 50% between 3 and 4 years after completion of treatment.
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, USA.
S S
SS
Orten
M
M
Waner
S
S
Flock
P K
PK
Roberson
J
J
Kincannon
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005148:Facial Dermatoses / Q000601:surgery*; D006222:Hamartoma / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D053685:Laser Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012008:Recurrence; D013053:Spectrophotometry