Laser treatment of cutaneous vascular anomalies

Lasers and light-based therapy have been used to treat port-wine stains and hemangiomas for the past two decades. Laser treatment produces dramatic clearing of port-wine stains with minimal scarring or epidermal damage, minimizes hypertrophy of lesions, decreases the risk of bleeding from pyogenic granlomas, and reduces the associated psychosocial morbidity. Lasers are used to halt the proliferation of the superficial component of hemangiomas, reduce the mass of the lesions, and to treat the vascular ectasia as well as the atrophic scarring that develops following involution. Laser therapy provides a safe and effective modality with low morbidity for cutaneous vascular anomalies.