Single-center experience with potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) laser for superficial cutaneous vascular lesions in face

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Superficial cutaneous vascular lesions (SCVLs) are quite common. Several types of lasers have been used to treat these lesions; however, there are no dedicated treatment guidelines and few studies in the literature addressed their treatment. AIMS: In this paper, we aimed to report our clinical experience with potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) laser treatment on different types of facial SCVLs including telangiectasia, spider angioma, and erythema. METHODS: Data were retrospectively collected from 146 patients with SCVLs, who had been treated with the 532-nm wavelength laser at our outpatient dermatology clinic. Treatment responses were graded as four groups: clearance (> 75% improvement compared with the previous session), marked improvement (50-75%), partial improvement (25-50%), and no response (< 25%). RESULTS: The rate of clearance plus marked improvement (favorable outcome) was 66.1% for telangiectasia group, 93.5% for spider angioma group, and 26.7% for erythema group. Mean number of treatments was 2.9 +/- 1.4 for telangiectasia group, 1.4 +/- 0.8 for spider angioma group, and 2.9 +/- 1.7 for facial erythema group. Only minimal adverse effects related to treatment procedure were detected in 5 out of 146 (3.4%) patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrated that KTP laser might be a safe and effective laser modality for SCVLs, which may be associated with physiological problems due to cosmetic concerns.