Progressive hemifacial atrophy also known as Parry-Romberg syndrome is an acquired, slowly progressive disorder, occurring more in women, primarily affecting one side of the face, mainly characterized by unilateral atrophy, and loss of skin and subcutaneous tissues of face, muscles, and bones. Ocular and neurologic involvements are common. The possible etiology is unclear without any known cure. We report a rare case of Parry-Romberg syndrome with classical features. The clinical features, radiological imaging findings, differential diagnosis, and available treatment options are discussed in this report.

The potential advantages of percutaneous procedures over traditional discectomy are multiple, but the use of laser energy to ablate disc tissue appears entirely empirical. To date, no experimental study exists investigating the results of laser on degenerated intervertebral disc. The present study was therefore undertaken to determine the histological and radiological changes induced by neodymium-yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Nd:YAG) laser on such disc tissue. It was shown that the vaporization of disc tissue was caused by Nd:YAG laser in early period, but this was gradually replaced by cartilaginous fibrous tissue at 60 days after laser irradiation as a result of the proliferation of cartilaginous cells and fibrous tissues. Accordingly the magnetic resonance (MR) imaging index histogram moved to the left in the early period, but it moved to the right again at 60 days after laser irradiation. In view of these data, we conclude that the use of laser in degenerated disc disease does not represent an effective treatment as an alternative to conventional surgical methods.

The authors previously have reported the effects of neodymiumyttrium-aluminum-garnet (Nd: YAG) laser on the cartilage end-plates (CEPs) in an animal model. However, there is no experimental study in the literature which specifically addresses the effects of the laser on CEP vascularity. The aim of our study is to investigate the vascular response of the CEP to Nd: YAG laser. In this study, sixteen guinea pigs were used. Experimental intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration was induced in 12 animals by a ventral disc incision to study the effects of Nd: YAG laser on the CEP of the degenerated IVD from the aspects of pathology and radiology. At 2 months after the experimental annular lesion, the CEP vascular channel counts had increased significantly (p = 0.00) in the cranial CEP to 104%, and to 99% in the caudal CEP. In the early period after laser irradiation the vessel counts from both CEPs decreased due to the extensive damage of Nd: YAG laser on disc tissue (p = 0.00). Accordingly, the value of CEP index and MR signal intensity of the CEPs (cranial and caudal) had decreased one month after laser application. Thereafter, both the CEP vascular channel counts and the MR signal intensity remained relatively constant throughout the course of the experiment, but the value of CEP index had increased to 68% of the normal IVD. From the results of present study, it is evident that laser application had a significant negative influence on the CEP vascularization of the degenerated IVD.