TREATMENT OF LEG TELANGIECTASIAS USING A LONG-PULSE FREQUENCY-DOUBLEDNEODYMIUM-YAG LASER AT 532 NM

BACKGROUND. At the present time a large variety vascular lesion lasers are available for the treatment of both congenital and acquired disor ders of blood vessels. Although most vascular lesion lasers are variab ly effective in the treatment of facial telangiectasias, port-wine sta ins, hemangiomas, and other vascular anomalies, their use in the treat ment of leg veins has been disappointing. Histologic, anatomic, and ot her variables have been associated with a poor response of leg veins t o currently available vascular lesion lasers. OBJECTIVE. This study ex amines the use of a new long pulse frequency-doubled Neodymium (Nd):YA G laser emitting radiation at 532 nm for the treatment of leg veins. M ETHODS. Fifty patients with leg telangiectasias of varying diameters w ere treated using a variable pulse width frequency doubled Nd:YAG lase r. This laser delivers energy through a novel water-cooled chill tip, which appears to limit epidermal damage during laser treatment. RESULT S. Sixty-two treatment sites were evaluated in 50 patients. Seventy-th ree percent of patients had greater than 50% improvement after one tre atment. Eighty-three percent were graded with clearances of better tha n 50% after two treatments, with 63% showing greater than 75% improvem ent. CONCLUSION. The VersaPulse variable pulse width laser appears to be an effective modality for the treatment of leg telangiectasias. The relative lack of patient discomfort combined with a high degree of pa tient satisfaction may indicate a fairly high level of patient accepta nce of this new form of therapy for the treatment of leg telangiectasi as. (C) 1998 by the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, Inc.