Abstract

Clinical response of port wine stains (PWS) to laser therapy, using currently accepted parameters (585 nm wavelength, 0.45 ms pulse duration, 5-10 mm spot diameter, single pulses), cannot be accurately predicted. Extensive histologic analysis [1], three dimensional reconstruction [2] or classification [3,4] of vascular anatomy, and modeling [5,6] have not provided conclusive insight as to why some PWS respond poorly to laser treatment.

© 1997 Optical Society of America