Scientific validation of clinical visual scales and Antera 3D™ consistency with derived measurements in the assessment of infantile haemangioma after laser therapy.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Laser therapy is a treatment for infantile haemangiomas. The efficacy of laser therapy for red lesions is determined by visual evaluation; however, this assessment is inaccurate and lacks objectivity. OBJECTIVE: To scientifically validate the consistency between pre- and post-treatment visual assessment grades for infantile haemangioma treated with pulsed dye laser (PDL) and the values calculated from images obtained with Antera 3D™. METHODS: This study involved 81 cases of infantile haemangiomas treated with PDL alone from 2012 to 2015 and with Antera 3D™ images of the lesions. Using images obtained before treatment and 4-6 weeks after the last treatment, the lesions were rated using a visual four-step scale. Ratings were categorised as Poor/Fair/Good/Excellent by the degree of improvement in the red colour tone. The red colour ratio was calculated using the haemoglobin distribution in the lesion and surrounding skin, and the improvement difference and improvement rate were then obtained. The correlation between the improvement difference and improvement rate, and visual evaluation was statistically analysed. RESULTS: No serious adverse effects were observed, with an average of 4.3 treatments per patient; 60.1% of the patients achieved Good/Excellent results. There were statistically significant differences in the post-treatment red colour ratio and improvement ratio in each category after visual evaluation classification. The improvement rate and the four visual grades were statistically correlated. CONCLUSION: This study confirmed the scientific validity of visual evaluation and the evaluation criteria calculated from Antera 3D™. This method could objectively determine treatment effectiveness.