Analysis of complications of argon laser treatment for port wine hemangiomas with reference to striped technique.

Argon laser treatment of port wine hemangiomas has evolved greatly in technique. Since 1979, we have treated 150 patients with the "zebra strike" technique in order to enhance fading and lessen the incidence of complications or side effects. Eighty-one such patients are studied in depth with at least an 18-month follow-up on all patients. The "zebra stripe" technique is described in detail. Analysis of fading shows a 64% excellent or good result in all patients and analysis of sponginess shows that a marked reduction of sponginess is possible by the laser. Side effects and complications including hypopigmentation, texture change, and indentation are discussed in detail. Analysis of scarring shows an overall scar rate of 15% with a general scar rate of 7.4% if you exclude the lip and nasolabial area. Residual striping was present to a slight degree in 34% of the patients and to a major degree in 7% of the patients. All factors are discussed as far as age, complexion, sex, color or port wine stain and related to stripe technique.