Treatment of Periorbital Port-wine Stains With the Flashlamp-Pumped Pulsed Dye Laser

Sixty-seven patients with periorbital port-wine stains were treated with the flashlamp-pumped pulsed dye laser at a wavelength of 577 or 585 nm and a pulse-width of 450 microseconds. A retrospective analysis of the efficacy of this treatment was performed by qualitative and quantitative comparison of simultaneously projected pretreatment and post-treatment photographs and by comparison of photographs with a visual analog scale. These periorbital port-wine stains were treated with good-to-excellent results in 95% of the patients. As a result of treatment, macular (ie, nonhypertrophic) lesions, were lightened by an average of 80%. Neither scarring nor permanent pigmentary alteration was noted. Children of all ages were treated without adverse consequences, and the results were comparable to those of adults. The flashlamp-pumped pulsed dye laser treatment of periorbital port-wine stains is effective and safe in patients of all ages and should be considered the treatment of choice for flat and mildly hypertrophic lesions.