PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE | December 23, 1994
Proc. SPIE. 2327, Medical Applications of Lasers II
KEYWORDS: Laser therapeutics, Medical laser equipment, Tissues, Skin, Laser applications, Chemical vapor deposition, Fiber lasers, Laser irradiation, Laser tissue interaction, Lymphatic system
During the period of January 1984 - July 1993, we have treated 611 children with more than 2000 lesions of congenital vascular disorders (CVD) such as hemangiomas and vascular malformations. This number does not include the patients with port wine stains, which also have been treated by means of laser. Most of the CVD patients (n equals 467) presented hemangiomas of the face, the anogenital region, and the extremities, some were located in the trachea or mouth or in the urogenital tract. All of these hemangiomas were growing prior to intervention or showed complications such as bleeding, ulceration, superinfection, or obstruction. Nearly a quarter (n equals 144) of the patients presented vascular malformations, either of singular vessel type involvement or of mixed vascular genesis (venous, arterio- venous, veno-lymphatic or lymphatic) with various complications like tracheal obstruction or recurrent thrombophlebitis. According to our step program, which is based on a clinical classification, the hemangiomas were treated as early as possible, while the vascular malformations were only treated with laser when no other therapeutic technique (embolization, resection) was suitable. All patients were referred for laser treatment from other centers. The lasers used were Nd:YAG and Argon lasers with transcutaneous application with or without continuous ice-cube surface cooling or interstitial laser application. The treatments were performed either on in- or outpatient basis according to age, localization and with good to excellent results in most cases and a complication rate of less than 2%.
