Facial port-wine stains had a significant negative impact on patients’ quality of life, according to study results published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
Researchers studied 244 adults (74.6% female; mean age, 38.9 years) with facial port-wine stains who completed an online quality of life survey between Nov. 7, 2015, and March 1, 2016, including the Skindex-29 instrument.
There were 76 patients (31.2%) who reported involvement with body regions beyond the face. A majority of patients (77.1%) reported undergoing at least one laser treatment of facial port-wine stains.
The presence of facial port-wine stains had a moderate negative influence on quality of life, especially emotional, with patients with facial port-wine stains having a mean Skindex-29 composite sore of 24.6.
“Variables associated with reduced [quality of life] in all Skindex-29 subdomains included comorbid depression, limited facial mobility, and presence of other skin conditions,” the researchers wrote.
Emotional and symptomatic impairment was greater in patients with hypertrophy.
