Maximizing Laser Therapy Success for Port-Wine Birthmarks in Pediatric Patients

"Pulse Dye Laser (PDL) standard settings. This is the same procedure children would receive as standard of care if these individuals were not participating in this study.~The surgeon will perform 1 pass with the PDL over the area of the Port wine birthmark (PWB)."

"This procedure is used for some patients as standard of care depending on the severity and depth of the lesion.~The surgeon will perform 3 passes with the PDL over the PWB, gradually increasing the pulse duration with each pass to effectively target both superficial and deeper blood vessels."

The combination of these two lasers is one of the investigational treatments. The surgeon will perform 1 pass per laser over the PWB. The 1st pass will be with the PDL to target the blood vessels closer to the top of the skin, followed by a 2nd pass with the Nd:YAG laser to target the blood vessels that deeper in the skin.

The surgeon will perform 1 pass with the IPL followed by 1 pass with the PDL over the PWB

The combination of these modalities is one of the experimental procedures. The surgeon will place a small suction cup over the PWB target region of the PDL for a few seconds to stop the blood flow and accumulate the blood in that spot. The PDL treatment will then quickly proceed. Since the PDL targets red blood cells, it will allow the laser to target the pooled blood in the abnormal blood vessels better.