Curriculum · Pediatric / Nutrition & Growth / EPI / Routine Child Examination
Infantile haemangioma
What it is
Infantile hemangioma is the most common benign soft tissue tumor of infancy. It develops shortly after birth and is characterized by early proliferation followed by gradual, spontaneous involution. Capillary hemangiomas are present at birth and usually resolve on their own with time. Strawberry hemangiomas are bright-red raised lesions, are benign, and most disappear on their own, while a cherry hemangioma is a benign small red papule. A subglottic hemangioma is a vascular neoplasm of the airway, described as a congenital, abnormal growth of blood vessels in the subglottic area and a benign tumor, and 50% of these patients have a skin hemangioma as well.
Causes and risk
The risk factors listed are white, females and a low birth weight.
How it presents
One described case is a 3 weeks old infant whose lesion is a well demarcated, 2x1 cm sized bright red nodule over the center of the forehead (glabella); the diagnosis is infantile hemangioma. In another case the lesion appeared at about 4 weeks of age, continued to grow until about 5 months of age, and then began to flatten, shrink, and fade. A subglottic hemangioma gives stridor at 3-6 months of age, because it is small at birth, and its clinical features are a croup-like cough, noisy breathing or stridor, and troubled breathing. The level of the lesion decides the type of stridor: supraglottis and above give inspiratory stridor, glottis and subglottis give biphasic stridor, and below subglottis gives expiratory stridor.