Laser may not fade birthmarks

Laser treatments do not permanently remove birthmarks known as port-wine stains, researchers have found.

The stains, caused by enlarged capillaries in the skin, occur at birth in 0.3% of the population and are most prominent on the face. Since 1989, removal using a pulsed-dye laser has been the recommended treatment for those who want them gone. But researchers at the University of Amsterdam found that the improvement was often only temporary, even after repeated treatments.

Of the 51 people examined 10 years after successful laser treatment, 35% said their stains had turned dark again. Only 6% said their stains had continued to lighten, and 59% said there had been no change in color, the researchers reported in the March 22 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.