Safety and Efficacy of Blue Light Laser Treatment in Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia

Background and Objectives Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is a hereditary condition that is associated with arteriovenous malformations. A common site for these malformations is the nasal mucosa, which is associated with severe epistaxis and debilitation for affected patients. We evaluat...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Lasers in surgery and medicine 2021-03, Vol.53 (3), p.309-315
Main Authors: Bertlich, Mattis, Kashani, Fatemeh, Weiss, Bernhard G., Wiebringhaus, Robert, Ihler, Friedrich, Freytag, Saskia, Gires, Olivier, Kühnel, Thomas, Haubner, Frank
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal models
blue light laser
Coagulation
Debilitation
Guinea pigs
Hemorrhage
hemorrhagic hereditary teleangiectasis
Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia
HHT
laser
Lasers
Light
Mucosa
osler
Patients
Quality of life
Safety
Staining
Surgery
Technology
Thyroid
Thyroid gland
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background and Objectives Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is a hereditary condition that is associated with arteriovenous malformations. A common site for these malformations is the nasal mucosa, which is associated with severe epistaxis and debilitation for affected patients. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of blue light laser technology in treating these endonasal manifestations in a retrospective chart analysis. Additionally, we compared blue light laser technology to bipolar coagulation in an animal model. Study Design/Materials and Methods We performed a retrospective chart analysis of all patients that were diagnosed with HHT and received endonasal blue light laser treatment between 10/2017 and 04/2019. In addition, we performed bipolar or blue light laser coagulation of all macroscopically visible vessels on thyroid gland lobes (n = 4) from Dunkin–Hartley Guinea Pigs. Hematoxylin‐eosin (HE) staining was then used to visualize depth and area of coagulation surrounding these vessels. Results One hundred and fifty‐one treatments in 23 patients were analyzed. Under regular blue light laser treatment, quality of life (QOL), indicated on a visual analog scale from 1 to 10, gradually increased significantly from 5.6 ± 0.5 (before the first treatment) to 7.5 ± 0.9 (after the second treatment). Following this, QOL remained steady throughout additional treatments. Adverse effects were not recorded. HE staining showed that coagulation depth (162 ± 56 vs. 586 ± 192 µm) and area (74 ± 35 vs. 1015 ± 449 µm2) were significantly lower after laser treatment. Conclusion Blue light laser therapy is safe and efficient in treating HHT. Damage to the surrounding tissue is significantly lower compared with bipolar coagulation. © 2020 The Authors. Lasers in Surgery and Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC
ISSN:0196-8092
1096-9101
DOI:10.1002/lsm.23289