Adenoma sebaceum: successful treatment with the argon laser

Treatment of disfiguring angiofibromas characteristic of adenoma sebaceum has remained a difficult problem. This report discusses a 13-year-old boy who was bothered by hundreds of bright red papules on his cheeks, nose, and chin. All lesions were successfully eradicated by treatment with the argon laser. The blue-green light from this laser has been found to be particularly useful in treating red-blue vascular lesions and is now the therapy of choice for port-wine stains and several types of small vascular ectasia; adenoma sebaceum characterized by prominent vascular ectasia also respond extremely well to argon laser radiation.