title: Venous malformations with lip involvement: palliative treatment with carbon dioxide laser vaporization in five cases.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The treatment of venous malformations remains controversial. Traditional surgical excision is only possible in a few cases. Numerous sclerosing agents have been used, but none of them are ideal or absolutely safe for the treatment of venous disorders. In isolated cases, an expectative control would be a good option.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To report our experience with CO(2) laser vaporization as palliative treatment in five cases of head and neck venous malformations with lip involvement.
  
  
  METHODS
  Five patients were treated with a CO(2) laser in superpulsed, focused mode at 2 W/cm(2), with several passes in each session. Patients were aged from 16 to 49 years old (mean: 36.6 years). Three sessions of treatment were performed in two patients while only one session was used in the rest. The follow-up was 6-36 months (mean: 22.8 months).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant cosmetic improvement with flattening of the lip surface was achieved in all patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Carbon dioxide laser vaporization can be considered as one method of choice for an effective palliative treatment of lip involvement in venous malformations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Hospital Juan Canalejo, La Coruña, Spain.
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Del Pozo
authors.forename: Covadonga
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martínez-González
authors.forename: Maria Magdalena
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Verea
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fernández-Torres
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fonseca
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001165:Arteriovenous Malformations / Q000601:surgery*; D004954:Esthetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D054020:Lasers, Gas; D008046:Lip / Q000098:blood supply / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010166:Palliative Care; D055815:Young Adult