[Clinical study of 1949 cases of port wine stains treated with vascular photodynamic therapy (Gu's PDT)].
BACKGROUND
Complete fading of port wine stains (PWS) is difficult to achieve with current laser treatments. Photodynamic therapy (Gu's PDT) could offer a very efficient alternative for PWS therapy.


METHODS
1949 lesions in 1385 patients were treated by PDT. Each patient received an intravenous injection of hematoporphyrin derivative (HpD) or hematoporphyrin monomethyl ether (HMME) at 3-7 mg/kg. Laser irradiation was performed on a 2 to 8 cm spot size. Different wavelengths (488.0 nm to 578.2 nm) were evaluated with a power density of 50-100 mW/cm2. Fluences ranged from 90 to 540 J/cm2.


RESULTS
Among the 1942 lesions, PWS clearance was observed in 99.7% of cases. Excellent results were achieved in 128 lesions (6.6%) (100% clearance), 746 lesions (38.3%) yielded to good results (clearance > 75%), 923 lesions (47.4%) showed moderate results (clearance 50-75%), 145 lesions (7.4%) showed poor results (clearance<50%) and in 7 lesions (0.3%) no visible change was observed. The pink port wine stains revealed better response to Gu's PDT with only one session. Conversely, purple stains in adult patients required 2 sessions or more.


CONCLUSIONS
This new PDT technique is effective and highly selective, with almost no risk of scarring.
Gu
Y
Y
Department of Laser Medicine, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China. yinggu@yahoo.com
Huang
N Y
NY
Liang
J
J
Pan
Y M
YM
Liu
F G
FG
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017324:Hematoporphyrin Derivative / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008657:Metabolic Clearance Rate; D008875:Middle Aged; D010778:Photochemotherapy; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019339:Port-Wine Stain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012867:Skin / Q000098:blood supply; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D017319:Photosensitizing Agents; D017324:Hematoporphyrin Derivative