FRIDAY, March 23 (HealthDay News) -- A new-generation, high-energy, 595 nm, long pulse-duration pulsed-dye laser -- which is capable of administering pulses that clinically behave like true 40-millisecond pulses by doubling the number of sub-pulses comprising each laser pulse -- is an effective treatment for patients with lower-extremity spider veins, according to the results of a study published in the March issue of Lasers in Surgery and Medicine.
Eric F. Bernstein, M.D., of the Laser Surgery and Cosmetic Dermatology Centers in Bryn Mawr, Penn., studied 15 subjects with Fitzpatrick skin types I-III who were treated at 35 sites with three laser treatments using an average fluence of 20.4 J/cm2 at six-week intervals.
He found that spider vein clearance averaged 65 percent to 75 percent according to the treating physician, and 40 percent to 50 percent as measured by blinded observers who rated digital images. These results suggest that further clearance of veins should occur over a longer term even without additional treatment, the report indicates.
"Future advances in this laser may result from even longer pulse-durations, perhaps requiring an even greater number of pulselets," the author concludes.
Funding and equipment for study provided by Candela Corporation of Wayland, Mass.
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