Treatment of mature port wine stains with the PhotoDerm VL

Port wine stains (PWS) are congenital vascular naevi. Their presence is the cause of significant psychological morbidity due to their cosmetic appearance. The flashlamp-pumped dye laser (FPDL) is considered to be the treatment of choice for PWS. However, there is a recognized morbidity related to the use of the FPDL. The PhotoDerm VL is a broad spectrum, non-coherent, intense pulsed light source which has been shown to be an effective tool in the treatment of a number of vascular lesions including PWS. Our strategy was to assess the effectiveness of the PhotoDerm VL in the treatment of mature PWS in three fair skinned subjects. Three patients with mature PWS were recruited. They were treated at 6-weekly intervals with the PhotoDerm VL machine using predetermined parameters and assessed at each visit prior to treatment. In all three patients there was at least a 50% improvement in the clinical appearance of the lesions as assessed by both operator and patient. No complications were reported. Further treatments in two patients, however, failed to produce any further clinical improvement. We conclude that the PhotoDerm VL appears to be a promising treatment for PWS with no post-operative complications. However, a comparative study with the FPDL needs to be undertaken to determine the most effective therapy option for patients with this disfiguring cutaneous lesion.