Less is more: similar efficacy in three sessions and seven sessions of pulsed dye laser treatment in infantile port-wine stain patients

Port-wine stains (PWS) affect 0.3 to 0.5% of newborns and pulsed dye laser (PDL) remains the treatment of choice. However, no reliable study regarding the benefits of more frequent has been conducted. We designed the present study to evaluate whether more frequent PDL treatments in infantile patients would achieve further lightening of erythema. We prospectively investigated 20 infants with PWS. Two adjacent sites were both treated for a 12-week duration and randomly allocated to be treated for seven sessions at 2-week intervals or three sessions at 6-week intervals. The efficacy outcome 2 months after the final treatment was determined by visual and chromameter evaluation. Sixteen patients completed the study with a total of 54 treatment sites. Similar results were observed in the two groups. The average blanching rates were 42.93% (SD = 27.92%) and 43.81% (SD = 32.80%) for PDL treatments with seven and three sessions, respectively (p = 0.374). Partial recovery from the laser treatment was more frequently observed and side effects were significantly higher at 2-week follow-ups (p < 0.001), resulting in a total of 3–13 weeks for skin recovery. More frequent PDL treatments do not necessarily increase efficacy in infantile PWS patients. Considering the potential risks and added costs, this practice may not be of benefit. (Clinical trial registration number: ChiCTR-ONC-17010857)