Hemangiomae treatment
Traditional treatments
Often many dermatologists will not treat strawberry hemangiomas instead allowing them to fade and shrink on their own. During the rapid growth phase steroids can be helpful in reducing the thickness of the hemangioma but they will not affect the redness.
Deep hemangiomas or compound hemangiomas (hemangiomas that have both superficial and deep parts) can be treated a number of ways.
If the area is fairly small and not on the face, injection of the lesion with steroids can be used. Larger hemangiomas however will require oral steroids and a fairly large dose is needed.
Where hemangiomas do not respond to steroids, are problematic or life-threatening, alfa-interferon is recommended. However spastic dysplegia has been associated in 10-12% of children who have taken alfa-interferon and so it should be used with caution.
Conventional surgery is indicated for hemangiomas that are life threatening, deforming or do not respond to treatment. For facial hemangiomas with no significant reduction in size between 2 and 3 years of age, surgical intervention should be considered. Surgery may also be indicated for hemangiomas that have been left alone and do not show signs of shrinkage after a few years.
Other treatments include Cryosurgery (where the vascular marks are frozen with an extremely cold substance sprayed onto the skin) or by Electrodesiccation (where the affected vessels are destroyed with the current from an electric needle).
Laser treatment
Most hemangiomas when first diagnosed are superficial only. These can be treated with a laser as soon as they are diagnosed, and early treatment is key. The laser wavelength is absorbed by the oxyhemoglobin (the protein molecules that make blood red) in the blood vessels of hemangioma resulting in the shrinking of the vessels so that the result is a less noticeable lesion. Repeated treatments can almost completely remove superficial hemangiomas.
Since the blood vessels of cavenous hemangiomas are much deeper below the surface of the skin than superficial ones it is necessary to use a laser that can penetrate much deeper to selectively target the vessels of the lesion without causing damage to the surrounding tissue.
Fotona's lasers that combine a KTP laser with a long pulse Nd:YAG laser offer the perfect solution to vascular lesions such as hemangiomas. The KTP laser emits a green laser at a wavelength that is absorbed in oxyhemoglobin in order to treat superficial hemangiomas effectively. The long pulse Nd:YAG laser penetrates to a depth of 5-6 mm into the skin allowing the effective treatment of cavenous hemangiomas. Independent research shows that over 75% of patients with deep hemangiomas that are treated with the Nd:YAG laser see a dramatic regression in the lesion.