Treatment of acquired vascular lesions has progressed significantly over the past several decades. Early developments in laser technology focused on treating congenital lesions such as port-wine stains and hemangiomas. Vascular lasers were then found to be effective in treating acquired lesions such as facial telangiectasia, rosacea-associated telangiectasia, poikiloderma of Civatte, pyogenic granuloma, venous lake, and others. Laser therapy has significantly improved efficacy and also decreased the incidence of side effects as compared with alternative methods for treating acquired vascular lesions.

Although continuous wave lasers were the first lasers used to treat acquired vascular lesions, their use was often complicated by an unacceptable incidence of side effects. The development of the pulsed dye laser, which adheres to the theory of selective photothermolysis,<sup>7 Anderson R.R., Parrish J.A. Selective photothermolysis: Precise microsurgery by selective absorption of pulsed radiation Science 1983 ;  220 : 524-527

Cliquez ici pour aller à la section Références</sup> was a milestone in vascular lesion therapy. Other lasers used to treat vascular lesions include the argon-pumped tunable dye, copper vapor, copper bromide, krypton, and potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) lasers. Currently, newer lasers as well as other light sources are being developed.