Review of modern techniques in detecting port-wine stain response to laser therapy.

BACKGROUND: Traditional mechanisms of assessing port-wine stain response to laser therapy have rested mainly on subjective determinations by physician and patient. However, the wide variation in treatment response poses a profound need for objective devices to measure treatment outcomes so that maximum effectiveness of therapy can be achieved without unnecessary repeat treatments. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this paper will be to review noninvasive techniques to measure port-wine stain response to laser therapy. METHODS: This report is based on a review of medical and bioscience literature. RESULTS: Several techniques including laser Doppler, reflectance spectrophotometry, tristimulus colorimetry, and videomicroscopy have been developed to address the need for objective measurement devices. CONCLUSION: While many instruments are available, these techniques are limited by cost, small test size area, and/or inconclusive correlation with clinical response. A number of experimental techniques may circumvent many of the problems inherent in currently-available commercial technologies.