Treatment of port-wine stains (capillary malformation) with the flashlamp-pumped pulsed dye laser.

Forty-three children with 49 separate port-wine stain vascular malformations were treated with the flashlamp-pumped pulsed dye laser at 585 nm. The patients ranged in age from 2 weeks to 14 years. Overall, 16% of patients had more than 95% resolution of their port-wine stains after an average of 4.8 (1 to 11) treatments. There was an average improvement of 69% in those lesions not clearing completely (average of 3.7 treatments). Lesions in patients less than 4 years of age were almost twice as likely to clear than were those in older children (20% vs 12%), and in fewer treatments (3.8 vs 6.5). An approximate 50% clearing was obtained with one treatment. Subsequent treatments resulted in an additional 10% clearing. There were no episodes of scarring or persistent pigmentary changes in any of the patients. Lesions on the hand and arm responded less well than lesions on the face, neck, and torso. The flashlamp-pumped pulsed dye laser has proved to be a safe and effective treatment modality for port-wine stain capillary malformations in infants and children.