clinical features

Last reviewed 07/2022

Infantile haemangiomas can occur anywhere in the body. Most frequent sites include (1):

  • head and neck - 60%
  • trunk - 25%
  • limbs -15%

The majority of haemangiomas appear around 2 weeks after birth. About one-third are noticed at birth manifesting as an erythematous macular patch, a blanched area, telangiectasia, or a pseudoecchymotic stain (1)

  • life span of infantile haemangiomas can be divided into (1):
    • rapid proliferative phase (0-1 year)
    • slow involuting phase (1-7 years)
    • involuted phase (8-12 years)
  • infantile haemangiomas are classified into superficial, deep, or combined forms
    • superficial infantile haemangiomas (include the "strawberry naevus type") appear red, raised, and lobulated, whereas deep lesions have normal overlying skin and appear as raised soft masses, often with a bluish cast (2)
    • morphologic subtypes of infantile haemangiomas include localized and segmental forms (3)

  • haemangiomas that have regressed may sometimes leave behind fibrofatty depositions, overlying anetoderma, and telangiectasia (4)
  • ulcerations, bleeding, airway involvement, and vision impairment are some of the complications of haemangiomas
  • visceral haemangiomas are more likely in a child who has multiple cutaneous lesions (>5). Most of them are seen on the liver. Other sites include the lungs, brain, and intestines (2)
  • large facial infantile haemangiomas have higher rates of complications than small localised haemangiomas and can be associated with neurological, ophthalmologic, and cardiac anomalies - PHACE syndrome (3)
  • glucose transporter-1 (GLUT-1) is strongly expressed by the cells of infantile haemangioma (1)

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