A port wine stain is also called a fire stain. It occurs in 1 in 250 babies. The cause can be found in a dilation of the capillaries, often in the face. It can be hereditary, although this is relatively rare. A port wine stain is congenital. This means that it is present at birth. It does not disappear later in life but rather increases in size. The color also deepens, from pink to red to purple. It is difficult to remove wine stains. Laser radiation can help, as can having it surgically removed.
What is a port wine stain?
A port wine stain is also called a fire stain. It is an innate thing, which means that it is already present at birth. This is a wine-red skin spot. This spot is visibly present in the newborn baby, and grows with it later in life.
Cause
A port-wine stain is a congenital vascular abnormality. The capillaries in the face or neck area are dilated. This causes blood to flow to the skin and creates the typical red color. Port wine stains can also appear elsewhere on the body, but are most commonly seen on the face. A certain gene is said to play a role in the development of wider capillaries. It is not common: about 1 in 250 babies are diagnosed with a port-wine stain at birth. Former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev had a port-wine stain on his head.
It is remarkable that a port-wine stain is sometimes accompanied by another abnormality. Sturge-Weber syndrome occurs in 1 in 200,000 babies. The veins in the head and neck area are not developed properly, which means that blood from the head is not drained sufficiently. Port-wine stains also occur in Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome, in addition to the development of varicose veins.
Is it hereditary?
Many parents wonder whether a port-wine stain is hereditary. However, this is rarely the case. Anyone who has a port-wine stain will have a slightly increased risk of having a baby with a port-wine stain. Yet the chance remains relatively small. But not having a port-wine stain does not guarantee that you will have a baby without a port-wine stain. Genetics may therefore play a role, but cannot be fully proven. Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome and Sturge-Weber syndrome are also not hereditary, although in these conditions the port-wine stains are a symptom and not an actual abnormality.
Symptoms
It is clear from birth that the baby has a port-wine stain. This is often still pink in color in very young children. The port wine stain also grows as the child grows older. It can also turn deeper, from red to purple. The port-wine stain can also become bumpy. Sometimes bumps develop in the port-wine stain later. The capillaries can expand over time, causing the color to deepen and the port-wine stain to become irregular.
A port-wine stain is always present at birth. If a similar spot develops later in life and was therefore not present at birth, it is probably a strawberry spot or another hemangioma. A hemangioma is a benign proliferation of the blood vessels.
It is often thought that a port wine stain consists of only one stain. This is possible, but there may also be several present. Moreover, they can vary greatly in size. For some it remains a small spot while for others it covers almost half the face. Sometimes the vessels in the eye are also abnormal, on the same side where the port-wine stain is located.
Does a port wine stain disappear on its own?
Unfortunately, a port wine stain will never go away on its own. This will therefore remain present for life. Because port-wine stains are quite common on the face, this can cause cosmetic problems. For that reason, many patients seek treatment.
Treatment: remove wine stain
First of all, you can try to cover up the port wine stain with special make-up. This does not make it disappear, but it can be hidden from view. This is especially possible with light wine stains and small stains.
In all other cases, the wine stain will have to be removed, as far as possible. Superficial X-rays can be used at a young age. This causes the port-wine stain to become lighter in color, if not almost invisible. The disadvantage of this treatment is the fact that it increases the risk of skin cancer, especially later in life. It is therefore not always wise to use this treatment method.
Another treatment method is the vascular laser. This gives an average improvement of 50 percent. The treatment can be painful. After treatment with laser beams, improvement can be seen, but the result can also be disappointing. In exceptional cases, no improvement occurs at all. Treatment with laser beams is safer than that with X-rays.
Finally, small wine stains can be surgically removed. This is done by a plastic surgeon.
