Infantile Hemangioma.
Deep lesions are bluish and dome-shaped, feel like a “bag of worms”, and are compressible. Infantile hemangiomas have a predilection for the head and neck region. Most infantile hemangiomas exist as solitary lesions. Infantile hemangiomas continue to grow until 9 to 12 months of age, at which time the growth rate slows down to parallel the growth of the child. Half of these lesions will show complete involution by the time a child reaches age 5; 70% will have disappeared by age 7; and 95% will have regressed by ages 10 to 12. The majority of infantile hemangiomas require no treatment.
Indications for active intervention include severe or recurrent hemorrhage unresponsive to treatment, threatening ulceration in areas where serious complications might ensue, interference with vital structures, pedunculated hemangiomas, and significant disfigurement. Treatment options include systemic corticosteroids, intralesional corticosteroids, topical and oral beta blockers, pulsed-dye laser, and less commonly interferon-α or surgical resection. In recent years, propranolol, a nonselective β-blocker, has been preferentially used as a first-line treatment of problematic infantile hemangioma.
Although infantile hemangiomas can appear anywhere on the skin, internal organs or mucous membrane, they have a predilection for the head and neck region. Most infantile hemangiomas exist as solitary lesions,4,20 although up to 20% of affected children have more than one lesion.
Indications for active intervention include severe or recurrent hemorrhage unresponsive to treatment, threatening ulceration in areas where serious complications might ensue, interference with vital structures, life- or function-threatening complications such as ocular compromise and respiratory distress, pedunculated hemangiomas, and significant disfigurement.
Pediatr Neonatal Nurs Open J. 2014; 1(1): 6-11. doi: 10.17140/PNNOJ-1-102
