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Supplemental Digital Content is Available in the Text. BACKGROUND: Studies have demonstrated that glycerol can act as an optical clearing agent (OCA) to increase the light penetration through the skin and laser deposition to the target chromophore, thus potentially increasing the efficacy of laser treatment. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether a pulsed dye laser (PDL) in combination with an OCA can increase the efficacy in treating port-wine stains (PWSs). METHODS: Thirteen patients with untreated PWSs underwent 3 treatment sessions at 6-week intervals. Each PWS was divided into OCA + PDL sites (PDL treatment after topical use of 0.5 mL hydrous glycerol for 5 minutes), PDL sites, and untreated sites. The chromametric evaluation and visual evaluation (VAS) of the efficacy and the assessment of side effects were conducted 3 months after the final treatment. RESULTS: Visual evaluation was 2.69 versus 2.07 (p =.025) and 3.38 versus 3.07 (p =.04) for OCA + PDL and PDL-only sites after the first and second sessions. After the third session, the chromameter and VAS indicated no significant difference between the 2 sites. Permanent side effects were not observed. CONCLUSION: Greater efficacy was observed after the first 2 treatments on the OCA + PDL sites. Although after multiple sessions, the OCA + PDL treatment did not improve efficacy over just PDL alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Port-wine stains (PWS) affect 0.3 to 0.5% of newborns and pulsed dye laser (PDL) remains the treatment of choice. However, no reliable study regarding the benefits of more frequent has been conducted. We designed the present study to evaluate whether more frequent PDL treatments in infantile patients would achieve further lightening of erythema. We prospectively investigated 20 infants with PWS. Two adjacent sites were both treated for a 12-week duration and randomly allocated to be treated for seven sessions at 2-week intervals or three sessions at 6-week intervals. The efficacy outcome 2 months after the final treatment was determined by visual and chromameter evaluation. Sixteen patients completed the study with a total of 54 treatment sites. Similar results were observed in the two groups. The average blanching rates were 42.93% (SD = 27.92%) and 43.81% (SD = 32.80%) for PDL treatments with seven and three sessions, respectively (p = 0.374). Partial recovery from the laser treatment was more frequently observed and side effects were significantly higher at 2-week follow-ups (p < 0.001), resulting in a total of 3-13 weeks for skin recovery. More frequent PDL treatments do not necessarily increase efficacy in infantile PWS patients. Considering the potential risks and added costs, this practice may not be of benefit. (Clinical trial registration number: ChiCTR-ONC-17010857). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EMLA cream was developed to reduce pain during pulsed-dye laser (PDL) treatment; however, no standard assessment for the therapeutic outcomes of PDL with EMLA creams thus far available. This comparative, prospective clinical trial evaluates laser efficacy and pain reduction during PDL treatment with EMLA cream for local topical anesthesia. Nineteen patients with untreated port-wine stain (PWS) were treated using PDL and examined in this study. Treatment specifications included Vbeam® PDL (Candela Corp.), 595-nm wavelength, 9 J/cm2 radiant exposure, 0.45 ms pulse duration, 10 mm spot size, and cryogen spray cooling (40 ms cooling plus a 20 ms delay). A topical anesthetic (EMLA cream: 2.5% lidocaine and 2.5% prilocaine) and a placebo were applied to two respective testing areas on all patients prior to treatment. The visual analog scale (VAS) was used for pain assessment. Clinical therapeutic outcomes were evaluated by visual evaluation and with the use of a chromameter 2 months after 3PDL treatments. The average VAS scores were 3.15 ± 0.95 and 8 ± 0.57 for the EMLA cream site and the placebo site, respectively, at a significance level p < 0.001. The EMLA cream site and the placebo site had clearance or fading rates of 45.08 and 44.12%, respectively (p < 0.05). No serious side effects were reported. Patients reported a consistent decrease in pain during PDL treatment when the topical anesthetic EMLA cream was administered. Treatment of PWS by PDL with EMLA cream does not lead to a decrease in efficacy or an increase in side effects; instead, it significantly reduces pain during treatment. EMLA cream is a safe and effective local topical anesthetic for PWS treatment by PDL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To compare the safety and efficacy of pulsed dye laser (PDL) at different intervals for the treatment of East Asians with Port-Wine Stain (PWS). Background: The population of East Asians around the world is about 1.6 billion, and they are considered to have more melanin in their skin compared with Caucasians. Nevertheless, no studies about the optimal treatment intervals for East Asians with PWS have been carried out. Methods: We prospectively investigated 39 East Asian patients with untreated PWS. Half of the PWS lesion was randomly allocated to be treated at 3 weeks and the other half at 6 weeks. Both halves of the PWS were treated three times in total. The efficacy outcome 2 months post final treatment was evaluated by visual and chromameter evaluation. Results: The average blanching rate was 40.27% and 44.17% for PDL treatments at the 3- and 6-week interval sites, respectively ( p > 0.05). No patient developed scarring or permanent pigmentation change. Limitations: There was no age criteria involved in the enrollment of patients in this study. Additionally, there is no comparison with long-term treatments at different intervals. Conclusions: PDL treatment at 3-week interval proved to be safe for East Asians with PWS. This can reduce the total duration of the course of treatments and had no increase in side effects compared with the standard interval treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Pulsed dye laser (PDL) with 7 and 10 mm spot sizes is widely used on a regular basis for the treatment of port-wine stain (PWS). Background data: No studies have reported on the differences in efficacy outcomes resulting from the use of different laser spot sizes in the treatment of PWS by PDL. Thus, an in vivo investigation into the differences in safety and efficacy of treatment between two spot sizes (7 vs. 10 mm) of PWS by PDL was conducted. Materials and methods: A total of 35 PWS patients underwent three treatment sessions by using a 595 nm wavelength PDL (Vbeam®, Candela Corp) with two laser settings: (1) 7 mm spot size, radiant exposure of 12 J/cm2 and (2) 10 mm spot size, radiant exposure of 10 J/cm2. Cryogen spray cooling and 1.5 msec pulse duration were applied. Therapeutic outcomes were evaluated by visual and chromametric evaluation 3 months after the final treatment. Results: Average blanching rates were 34.03% and 36.51% at sites treated by PDL with 7 and 10 mm laser spot sizes, respectively ( p < 0.05). Conclusions: On the basis of the laser setting, the therapeutic outcomes of PDL with 7 and 10 mm spot sizes were similar. PDL with a 10 mm laser spot size is more efficacious with lower radiant exposure than PDL with a 7 mm spot size; it can also reduce the treatment time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]