CRYOGEN SPRAY COOLING DURING ND-YAG LASER TREATMENT OF HEMANGIOMAS - A PRELIMINARY ANIMAL-MODEL STUDY

Citation
Wl. Hoffman et al., CRYOGEN SPRAY COOLING DURING ND-YAG LASER TREATMENT OF HEMANGIOMAS - A PRELIMINARY ANIMAL-MODEL STUDY, Dermatologic surgery, 23(8), 1997, pp. 635-641
Citations number
14
Categorie Soggetti
Dermatology & Venereal Diseases",Surgery
Journal title
ISSN journal
10760512
Volume
23
Issue
8
Year of publication
1997
Pages
635 - 641
Database
ISI
SICI code
1076-0512(1997)23:8<635:CSCDNL>2.0.ZU;2-Y
Abstract
BACKGROUND. Successful laser treatment of hemangiomas requires selecti ve photothermal destruction of dilated cutaneous vessels without damag ing the overlying epidermis. Delivering a short cryogen spurt, on the order of milliseconds, has been shown to result in localized cooling o f the superficial skin structures during laser irradiation. OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of cryogen spray cooling (CSC) in protecting superficial tissue structures durin g continuous Nd:YAG laser irradiation of an in vivo model hemangioma. METHODS. The highly vascularized chicken comb was selected as the anim al model for hemangiomas. The Nd:YAG laser irradiation ranged from 2.6 to 35.1 J/mm(2). A feedback system utilizing infrared radiometry moni tored the comb surface temperature and controlled delivery time of the cryogen spurt. When comb surface temperature during laser irradiation reached 36-42 degrees C, a 30-100 msec cryogen spurt was delivered. A nimals were euthanized 1 hour to 21 days following each experiment. Gr oss and histologic analyses were performed. RESULTS. Nd:YAG laser irra diation resulted in deep (up to 6.1 mm) tissue photocoagulation, while CSC preserved the overlying epidermis and papillary dermis.CONCLUSION . The results demonstrate that CSC is effective in protecting the epid ermis and papillary dermis, while achieving deep tissue photocoagulati on during Nd:YAG laser irradiation. Further pilot studies in humans ap pear warranted. (C) 1997 by the American Society for Dermatologic Surg ery, Inc.