CLINICAL USEFULNESS OF THE HEXASCAN - TREATMENT OF CUTANEOUS VASCULAR AND MELANOCYTIC DISORDERS

BACKGROUND. The Hexascan is an automated scanning laser handpiece originally developed to treat port-wine stains. It can be adapted to operate with most continuous wave laser systems delivering a variety of visible wavelengths. OBJECTIVES. To review the use of Hexascan with 585-nm yellow dye laser light for cutaneous vascular disorders and 514-nm green argon light for benign cutaneous melanocytic disorders. METHODs. The current clinical results, treatment parameters, indications, limitations, and complications of these procedures are discussed in a review format. In addition, a new clinical study of benign lentigines treated with green laser light is presented RESULTS. Most benign lentigines showed considerable lightening or complete disappearance after one or two treatments. Other melanocytic disorders may also respond. Deep dermal lesions such as Nevus of Ota may be totally unresponsive. Both vascular malformations such as port-wine stains and hemangiomas are also treatable. CONCLUSION. The Hexascan device attached to a continuous wave tunable dye laser can successfully treat a wide variety of cutaneous vascular and melanocytic disorders in both infants and adults.