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Pulsed Dye Laser for Port Wine Stains in 974 Children: A 20-Year Study in China
Authors: Xiu B, Xu Z, Xu Z, Zhang B, Wei L, Ma L.
A retrospective study evaluated 974 pediatric patients (under 18 years old) with solitary port-wine stain (PWS) who were treated with the Vbeam laser at the Beijing Children’s Hospital between the years 2003 and 2021. The overall treatment efficacy rate was 65.3% with higher rate in females (69.7%) compared to males (59.7%). Adolescents had the highest efficacy (100%) due to better compliance. Limb lesions responded best (87.5%), followed by neck (75.0%), trunk (66.7%), and head/face (63.0%). Smaller lesions (≤3 cm²) achieved 76.8% efficacy. Treatment efficacy rose with sessions, reaching 84.0% after three. The mandibular branch (V3) had the highest trigeminal efficacy (68.5%). The overall incidence of adverse reactions was low (4.31%) which included pigmentation changes (2.87%), hypopigmentation (1.03%), and minimal scarring (0.41%).
Figure 1: A 6-month-old female patient with PWS before and after three sessions of PDL. There was obvious clearance after 3 treatments. See this image and copyright information in PMC.
Figure 2: A 12-year-old male patient with a port-wine stain (PWS) exhibited significant clearance after five treatment sessions. See this image and copyright information in PMC.
