Abstract: 【Abstract】 Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of hematoporphyrin monomethyl ether （HMME）-mediated photodynamic therapy （PDT） in the treatment of facial port-wine stains （PWS） in children with Sturge-Weber syndrome （SWS）. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted based on the clinical data from SWS children treated with HMME-PDT at the Department of Dermatology, Children's Hospital, Capital Institute of Pediatrics from December 2020 to January 2022. HMME was intravenously injected at a dose of 5 mg/kg, followed by the irradiation of SWS lesions with a 532-nm light-emitting diode light source, and the treatment interval was 8 weeks. The efficacy of HMME-PDT for SWS was evaluated based on the subsidence of erythema and changes in the number and density of blood vessels under a dermoscope before and after treatment; adverse events after treatment were recorded. Fisher's exact test was used to analyze differences in efficacy. Results A total of 15 children with SWS were included, comprising 7 males and 8 females, with an average age of 4.74 years （range, 1 - 14 years）. There were 10 cases of clinical phenotype Ⅰ and 5 cases of type Ⅱ; 10 patients were accompanied by glaucoma, 6 by epilepsy, and 10 showed abnormalities on craniocerebral imaging. After HMME-PDT treatment, 4 out of 15 patients achieved complete remission of SWS lesions, 3 showed marked improvement, and 5 achieved improvement. Among 8 cases receiving 2 sessions of treatment, 1 achieved marked improvement and 4 showed improvement; among 7 cases receiving 3 or more sessions of treatment, 4 achieved complete remission, 2 achieved marked improvement, and 1 showed improvement; the proportions of patients achieving complete remission and marked improvement were significantly higher among those receiving 3 or more sessions of treatment than those receiving 2 sessions （both P < 0.05）. Among 7 patients with pink-type PWS, 1 recovered completely, 2 achieved marked improvement, and 4 showed improvement; among 4 patients with purplish-red-type PWS, 3 recovered completely and 1 showed marked improvement; among 4 patients with thickened-type PWS, 1 achieved improvement; there was a significant difference in the proportions of patients achieving marked improvement or improvement among the patients with different types of PWS （both P < 0.05）. Among 14 patients with lesions involving the central face region, 4 achieved marked improvement and 2 showed improvement; among 15 with lesions involving the lateral face region, 5 recovered completely, 3 achieved marked improvement, and 4 showed improvement; the recovery rate of lesions was higher in the lateral face region than in the central face region （P < 0.05）. Under a dermoscope, the skin lesions showed 4 vascular patterns: short rod-shaped vessels in 3 cases, linear vessels in 4, reticular vessels in 5, and mixed-type vessels in 3. The 3 patients with short rod-shaped vessels all recovered completely; among the 4 patients with linear vessels, 2 achieved marked improvement, and 2 showed improvement; among the 5 patients with reticular vessels, 1 recovered completely, 1 achieved marked improvement, and 3 showed improvement; the 3 patients with mixed-type vessels all showed poor response to the treatment; the proportions of patients who recovered completely and those who achieved improvement significantly differed among the patients with 4 different vascular patterns （both P < 0.05）. All the children experienced varying degrees of pain, swelling, purpura, and crusting after treatment, but none exhibited exacerbation of ocular or neurological complications. Conclusion HMME-PDT was safe and effective in the treatment of PWS in children with SWS, and its efficacy was related to the number of treatment sessions, lesion types and locations.

Key words: Sturge-Weber syndrome, Port-wine stain, Hematoporphyrin photoradiation, Child, Hemoporfin, Photodynamic therapy, Efficacy, Safety