Laser treatment for verrucous hemangioma

Abstract

Verrucous hemangiomas (VH) are hyperkeratotic vascular malformations characterized by a combination of dilated vasculature in the entire dermis, or even much deeper, and prominent hyperkeratosis, which may result in papules, patches, or violet-colored erythematous tumors. Bleeding after trauma or scratching is frequent. Surgery is nowadays the gold-standard treatment but laser therapymay nevertheless be useful in the superficial component of the lesions. Treatments with argon laser and copper vapor laser have been used [1], but both are limited by lack of specificity, poor penetration, and adverse sequelae. Recently, the Nd:YAG 1,064-nm laser has been used in a few cases, either alone or combined with CO2 or the pulsed dye laser (PDL) [2].