An intense light source - The photoderm VL-flashlamp as a new treatment possibility for vascular skin lesions

BACKGROUND. Up to now, vascular diseases were treated with various lasers, such as argon, pulsed dye, and copper vapor lasers, which can lead to side effects like hypopigmentations, hyperpigmentations, and scarring. We treated patients with vascular lesions with an incoherent intense light source, the PhotoDerm VL-flashlamp. OBJECTIVE. The aim of the study was to test the effectiveness and safety of the PhotoDerm VL for vascular skin lesions. METHODS. One hundred and twenty patients with facial or leg telangiectasias, spider nevi, erythrosis interfollicularis, and senile angiomas were treated with the PhotoDerm VL. RESULTS. In 73.6% of patients there was an immediate clearing, and in 84.3% a clearing after 1 month was found of leg telangiectasias up to 1 mm in diameter. Facial telangiectasias and erythrosis interfollicularis colli showed clearance up to 90%. Spider nevi and senile angiomas often only needed to be treated once. CONCLUSION. From our experience we conclude that the PhotoDerm VL is an excellent device to treat vascular lesions as there were hardly any side effects seen, however, the user needs a sufficient experience to get good results. (C) 1998 by the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, Inc.