How Many Treatments Does It Take to Clear a Port-Wine Stain?

The pulsed dye laser, the standard therapy for port-wine stains since 1986, can achieve 50% to 75% lightening within 2 to 3 treatments. However, a significant number of lesions do not attain this degree of lightening even after many more treatments. This study assessed whether continued pulsed dye laser treatments can further lighten persistent port-wine stains.

Using retrospective photographic analysis, researchers evaluated 69 patients who had achieved less than 75% lightening after 9 treatments with the pulsed dye laser. Treatments were performed with the flashlamp-pumped pulsed dye laser at either 577 or 585 nm using a 5-mm spot, 5.7 to 8.0 J/cm², and up to 10% spot overlap. Patients were relatively equally divided between adults and chi…