Treatment of spider veins with the 595 nm pulsed-dye laser.
Publication/Presentation Date
11-1-1998
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Previous attempts to treat spider veins with the conventional 585 nm pulsed-dye laser with a 0.5-ms pulse duration have been relatively ineffective. Recently, a new pulsed-dye laser that is tunable from 585 to 600 nm with a pulse duration 3 times longer than previously available lasers has preliminarily been shown to be effective for treatment of spider veins.
OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to evaluate the effectiveness of multiple treatments with the tunable long-pulse dye laser in treatment of spider veins of the lower extremity.
METHODS: Ten female volunteers were treated in two separate areas containing blue or red linear spider veins less than 1.5 mm in diameter. Treatments were administered with the pulsed-dye laser with a 1.5-ms pulse duration and 595-nm light at fluences of 15 and 20 J/cm2, and each subject received a total of 3 treatments at each site, administered at 6-week intervals. Photographs were taken before and 6 weeks after the last treatment.
RESULTS: Computer-based image analysis showed clearing of more than three fourths of veins after 3 treatments with 15 or 20 J/cm2. Side effects were minimal and the treatments were well tolerated.
CONCLUSION: The 595 nm, 1.5 ms pulse duration, pulsed-dye laser is safe and effective for treating blue or red spider veins of the lower extremities less than 1.5 mm in diameter in nontanned patients with Fitzpatrick skin types I and II. Multiple treatments improve on the results obtained after a single treatment.
Volume
39
Issue
5 Pt 1
First Page
746
Last Page
750
ISSN
0190-9622
Published In/Presented At
Bernstein, E. F., Lee, J., Lowery, J., Brown, D. B., Geronemus, R., Lask, G., & Hsia, J. (1998). Treatment of spider veins with the 595 nm pulsed-dye laser. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 39(5 Pt 1), 746–750. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0190-9622(98)70047-7
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences
PubMedID
9810891
Department(s)
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Document Type
Article