Short-term changes in a chicken comb vascular model mimicking port-wine stain after synchronous ultrasound parallel beam treatment: an exploratory study

In a hypervascular chicken comb model, SUPERB ultrasound with compression shows reduced VEGF-A positive area on the treated side at day 7 (11.5% vs 20.5%).

• Why it matters: The microvascular impact of SUPERB, which targets the mid-dermis without hemoglobin chromophore dependence, is unknown, limiting interpretation for port-wine stain–like vascular lesions.
• What they did: In six adult roosters, paired left-site treatment used a single 3–5 J pulse after compression blanching, with the right side as within-animal control; full-thickness biopsies were taken immediately, day 3, and day 7.
• The result: Descriptive histology showed reduced microvascular caliber and fewer intraluminal erythrocytes at multiple sites, and VEGF-A positive area was lower on day 7 in all five animals (mean paired difference −9.1 percentage points; 95% CI −13.3 to −4.9; exact Wilcoxon p = 0.0625).

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