Voluminous vascular anomalies of the head and neck region are still treated with conventional surgery although Neodymium:Yttrium-Aluminum-Garnet (Nd:YAG) laser therapy is an effective treatment method. One hundred thirty give patients with voluminous hemangiomas and vascular malformations were treated with interstitial Nd:YAG laser therapy, partly complemented by a non-contact mode Nd:YAG laser light application. The vascular tumors had a diameter of more than 3 cm in two or all three dimensions. Treatment was carried out under ultrasound and manual control. Nearly 60% of the patients showed a complete clinical regression of the vascular tumor, a third of the patients had a partial regression and were satisfied with the treatment outcome. Four patients were treated unsuccessfully with the laser and three of them subsequently underwent conventional surgery. Only 10 patients showed cosmetic and functional deficits. These results on the interstitial Nd:YAG laser therapy of voluminous hemangiomas and vascular malformations in a large patient group demonstrated the high effectiveness of this novel and innovative therapy modality.

Date Published: 19 January 1998
PDF: 5 pages
Proc. SPIE 3193, Photothermal Therapies in Medicine, (19 January 1998); doi: 10.1117/12.300839

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3193:
Photothermal Therapies in Medicine
Gaetano Bandieramonte; Stephen G. Bown; Fausto Chiesa; Jacques Donnez M.D.; Herbert J. Geschwind M.D.; Gian Francesco Lombard M.D.; Gerhard J. Mueller; Hans-Dieter Reidenbach, Editor(s)