early experience with laser therapy of hemangiomas and vascular malformations

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of Nd YAC laser on treatment of hemangiomas [n=30] and vascular malformations [n = 4]. A series of 27 patients [6 males and 21 females] with an age ranged from 4 months to 22 years were included. Most of patients [70.3%] were in their first year of life. Of the 30 hemangiomas, 13 were classified as capillary, 12 as cavernous, and 5 as mixed hemangiomas. Of the 34 vascular anomalies, 27 [70.6%] were located in the head and neck region. The indications for laser therapy were cosmetic disfigurement in 26 [76.5%], functional problems such as visual field defects and feeding difficulties in 6 [17. 6%], and ulceration or bleeding in 2 [5.9%] lesions. Our patients were subjected to 132 laser treatments utilizing both non-contact and contact techniques of laser beam application. Results were as follows 64.7% lesions showed good response while 26. 5% demonstrated fair response. Bad response had occurred in 8.8% of lesions. Complications of laser therapy included excessive scarring in 2 [5.9%], ulceration in 3 [8.8%] and bleeding in 1[2.9%] case. These findings demonstrated that Nd YAC laser therapy is a safe and effective treatment of vascular skin lesions that give satisfactory cosmetic and functional results without major side effects