Diode Laser Photocoagulation in PHACE syndrome hemangiomas: a case series

PHACE syndrome is a pediatric syndrome with cutaneous and extra-cutaneous manifestations, such as Posterior fossa defects, Hemangiomas, Arterial lesions, Cardiac abnormalities/aortic coarctation and abnormalities of the Eye. Facial hemangiomas affect the 75% of patients and may arise on the oral mucosa or in perioral cutaneous regions. In this study we treated 26 Intraoral Haemangiomas (IH) and 15 Perioral Haemangiomas (PH) with diode laser photocoagulation using a laser of 800 +/- 10nm of wavelength. For the treatment of IH was used an optical fiber of 320 mu m and the power of the laser was set ted at 4 W (t-on 200 ms/t-off 400ms; fluence: 995 J/cm(2)) for the PH was made use of an optical fiber of 400 mu m at the power of 5 W (t-on 100 ms/t-off 300 ms; fluence: 398 J/cm(2)). IH healed after one session (31%), the other 69% after two sessions of Laser therapy. In each session, only a limited area of the PH was treated, obtaining a progressive improvement of the lesion. Diode laser photocoagulation is an effective option of treatment for IH and PH in patients affected by PHACE because of its minimal invasiveness. Moreover laser photocoagulation doesn't have side effects and can be performed repeatedly without cumulative toxicity. Nevertheless, more studies are required to evaluate the effectiveness of the therapy in mid and long time period.