Laser Technology its Application in the Management of Hemangiomas and Vascular Malformations of the Head and Neck
The article tells of the uses of lasers in today’s treatments, specifically in treating many cases of vascular lesions. A laser is a machine, which is attached to a slit lamp microscope, which emits a highly concentrated beam of light. The common mechanism in lasers is that a particular substance, for example, CO2 gas, is stimulated resulting in a single wavelength of light being emitted. This single wavelength of light is a very intense source of energy. The effect of this energy is dependent upon the specific wavelength and the power of the laser, which is attached to a slit lamp microscope.
Lasers connected to a slit lamp microscope have added a great advantage in our attempts to manage vascular lesions. It tells however, that until today, the ideal laser has not yet been built. The ideal laser as the article explains is the kind that is designed to have the capabilities to effectively treat vessels of all sizes and depths. Medical laser that is connected to a slit lamp microscope is one small subset of a larger group of lasers. There are many types of medical lasers including diode, argon, green light, eximer, Yag, Neodymium, KTP, Carbon 12 CO2, and Carbon 13 CO2 lasers.
The said ideal laser connect to a slit lamp microscope is something that many look forward to. It is believed to be very useful especially in the fields of medicine and surgery. As the knowledge of the people about vascular lesions grow and as laser technology advances, it may be possible to create such a laser to be designed. As of the present however, doctors will have to use a combination of lasers and to combine lasers with other modalities to effectively manage the broad spectrum of vascular lesions.
Another article tells about a study that aims to assess the effectiveness of Argon laser in the treatment of vascular lesions of the head and the neck. This type of laser is commonly being used in the treatment of glaucoma, diabetic eye disease, and some retinal holes and tears. It mentions vascular problems such as port wine stains or PWS, hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasias or HHT, hemangiomas, arterial venous malformations or AVM, vascular granulomas and polyps, glomus tumors, and nasopharyngeal angiofibromas. All those cases mentioned are vascular lesions of the head and neck that they believe to be potentially responsive to treatment with the argon laser.
In the investigation, one hundred patients with PWS were studied. There were also 25 patients with HHT, three with subglottic hemangiomas, three with oral or lingual hemangiomas, two with labial AVM, three with vascular laryngeal polyps, and one patient with inoperable glomus tumor. All of the patients were treated with the argon laser. After their treatment, they were monitored for the laser treatments effectively. The results showed a positive outcome in 94 percent of the facial PWS patients. All treated patients in the HHT group also demonstrated improvement. The results with the other lesions were reported to be variable. The article relates then that the argon laser is a valuable treatment modality in vascular lesions of the head and neck. It likewise included in its report the common complications of the treatment including post treatment scarring and failure to achieve desired results. Read More
