COMPLETE ELIMINATION OF LARGE CAFE-AU-LAIT BIRTHMARKS BY THE 510-NM PULSED DYE-LASER

Traditional treatment modalities for cafe-au-lait spots include cryotherapy, dermabrasion, and excision with or without skin grafting. These treatments have shown varying degrees of success and, in some cases, have yielded significant side effects, such as permanent pigmentary: alteration and scarring. The 510-nm pulsed dye laser has been shown to selectively destroy melanosomes that make up such epidermal pigmented lesions as cafe-au-lait spots without significant adverse sequelae. Thirty patients with 34 large cafe-au-lait birthmarks received 510-nm pulsed dye laser treatments at 6- to 8-week intervals with energy densities ranging from 2.0 to 4.0 J/cm(2). An average of 8.4 laser treatments were necessary to achieve complete elimination of the cafe-au-lait marks under study. No lesional recurrences have been observed 1 year following termination of treatment.