Laser treatment for Cafe-au-lait Macules: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Nowadays, laser is the mainstay treatment for cafe-au-lait macules (CALMs), but no systematic review has been published to demonstrate the overall efficacy and it's still controversial which type of laser is optimal. Thus, we conduct the meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness and side effects of various types of lasers in treating CALMs. Original articles reporting the efficacy and side effects for CALMs in laser treatment were identified in PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science from 1983 to April 11, 2023. Using R software and the 'meta' package, meta-analysis was conducted for clearance and recurrence for evaluation of efficacy. And the occurrence of hypopigmentation and hyperpigmentation rate was pooled for safety evaluation. We used RoB2 and ROBINS-I tools to assess the risks of bias in RCT studies and non-RCT studies, respectively. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation system was used to assess the quality of the evidence. Nineteen studies involving 991 patients were included, which had a very low to moderate quality of evidence. The pooled 75% clearance rate was 43.3% (95% CI 31.8-54.7%, I2 = 96%), 50% clearance rate was 75% (95% CI 62.2-85.9%, I2 = 89%) and the recurrence rate was 13% (95% CI 3.2-26.5%, I2 = 88%). The pooled hypopigmentation and hyperpigmentation rates were 1.2% (95% CI 0.3-2.1%, I2 = 0%) and 1.2% (95% CI 0.3-2%, I2 = 0%), respectively. Subgroup analysis revealed that QS-1064-nm Nd:YAG laser treatment not only achieved more than 75% clearance rate in 50.9% of patients (95% CI 26.9-74.4%, I2 = 90%) but also resulted in the lowest hypopigmentation and hyperpigmentation rate of 0.5% (95% CI 0.0-2.5%, I2 = 26%) and 0.4% (95% CI 0.0-2.5%, I2 = 0%). To draw a conclusion, the laser treatment could reach an overall clearance rate of 50% for 75% of the patients with CALMs, for 43.3% of the patients, the clearance rate could reach 75%. When looking at different wavelength subgroups, QS-1064-nm Nd:YAG laser exhibited the best treatment capability. Laser of all the wavelength subgroups presented acceptable safety regarding of the low occurrence of side effects, namely, hypopigmentation and hyperpigmentation.

[Comparison of the effect of local administration of endothelial progenitor cells and VEGF on improving neovascularization in flap prefabrication].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effect of local administration of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and VECF on improving neovascularization and augmenting the survival areas in a rat model of prefabricated flap. METHODS: Prefabricated flaps were created by ligating the right femoral vascular pedicle and implanting it underneath the abdominal flap. The in vitro cultured EPCs (Group I , n=15) and VEGF protein (Group II , n=15) were injected subcutaneously around the implanted pedicle in experimental groups. PBS was injected in control group (Group Ill , n=15). 4 weeks later, the abdominal island flap based solely on the implanted vessels was elevated and sutured back. Then flap viability and numbers of capillary were evaluated on day 7. RESULTS: There was more statistically significant augmentation of flap survival [(87.26 +/- 10.13) % versus (66.13 +/- 9.9)% and (55.59 +/- 13.06)%, P < 0.001], a higher capillary density (38.67 +/- 9.52 versus 25.83 +/- 6.33 and 26.5 +/- 5.61 capillary/mm2 , P < 0.05) in EPCs group than in the other two groups. CONCLUSIONS: EPCs are superior to VEGF in improving neovascularization during flap prefabrication. Local transplantation of bone marrow-derived EPCs may be a useful strategy for augmentation of the survival areas of prefabricated flaps.