IDEA Clinic
What is Hemangioma?
Hemangioma is a benign vascular tumor that occurs from birth. The vein is also called moles. Vascular moles are reddish or purplish in color. Fluffy or superficial hemangiomas of the skin. Some lesions can be deeply located.
Vascular moles are formed due to the aggregation of the vessels. Hemangiomas can be found singly or more than once in the body. Hemangiomas, which are more than one, are called an hemangiomatosis ”.
Why Does it Occur?
Hemangiomas are also commonly referred to as birthmarks or desire spots. The reason for this is thought to be due to the inability of the vascular moles to eat / eat something that the pregnant woman suffers during pregnancy. Of course, this thought has no medical validity.
The exact cause of hemangiomas is not known. However, it was found to be 40% more common in premature and low weight babies and girls. In addition, maternal age, progesteton use has been found to increase the risk of various factors. In addition, it was found to be effective on the risk of hemangioma in genetic relationships. [one]
How Do Hemangiomas Appear?
Vascular moles are classified as superficial, deep or a combination. They can be as big as a few millimeters or a few centimeters. Superficial lesions have a bright red color and deeper lesions have a bluish tint. [2]
Where Can be Seen in The Body?
Hemangiomas can be seen anywhere in the body with veins. However, they are seen on the skin and face area. There are also types of internal organs. Internal organs are often seen in the liver. The internal organs of a patient with hemangioma detected on the skin should also be imaged.
Vascular moles are most commonly seen in the face, chin, and around the lips.
Are Vascular Moles Risky?
Hemangioma means benign vein moles. In other words, there are no risks such as cancer and so on. However, it can bring some problems with respect to the position of the benign. For example, a hemangioma located around the eye that tends to grow, can damage the eye. And it can cause loss of vision. Or a lesion that grows around the lip may cause eating disorder. A deeply located hemangioma in the neck region may cause damage to the vocal cords and may cause problems such as hoarseness.
It may cause aesthetically disturbing appearance as well as it may cause health problems.
Do Hemangiomas Grow?
Yes. Hemangiomas tend to grow. Some hemangiomas appear as a blemish on the skin and eventually become fluffy veins from the skin. Such stains grow rapidly during the first 3 months. Then the growth rate slows down and growth stops around 1 year old. Not every hemangioma grows. Some may remain the same from birth. Some hemangiomas grow to the age of 1 year and then begin to regress after 18 months. This decline continues until the age of 9 years. Hemangiomas that do not regress until these ages (9) are thought to be permanent for life. Vascular moles decline by 10% every year. With this calculation, 40% of them fall to the age of four, 50% to five, and 90% to nine. [3]
Regressive hemangiomas can disappear completely. In these cases there is no trace.
Should Hemangioma Be Treated?
As mentioned above, there is a possibility that the hemangiomas will regress and disappear until the age of 9 years. Therefore, it is essential that the hemangiomas grow before the treatment process is started. Since hemangioma is seen in infants, this follow-up should be performed carefully by the families.
Treatment can be expected after 9 years of age. However, hemangiomas that tend to grow may need to be treated because of their location. For example, hemangiomas around the eye and tend to grow should be treated to prevent visual loss.
How to treat Hemangioma?
There is no definite treatment technique for hemangioma. Some experts apply medication, others use laser therapy and others apply surgery. Depending on the physician and hospital you are applying to, there may be changes in the technique to be used.
Surgical Treatment:
Surgical treatment is the removal of the hemangioma from the body by surgical incision. Although it is therapeutic, the advantageous bit is not the method. Because the hemangioma is removed from the body and the surgical scar remains. This means that the aesthetic defect caused by hemangioma does not disappear. Since there are alternative therapies, surgical technique is not recommended.
Laser Therapy:
Laser treatment is often used in the treatment of skin spots and moles. Successful results are obtained with laser. However, the laser is effective only on surface problems. This is true for the veins. Superficial hemangiomas can be treated with laser. However, it is not possible to treat puffy ones by laser.
Medication
Medicine used in the treatment of hemangioma include cortisone, propranolol and aethoxysklerol.
Propranolol Treatment:
Cortisone is not preferred because it has too many side effects. Propranolol is an active substance used in the treatment of blood pressure.
Aethoxysklerol (Sclerotherapy)
The active ingredient Aethoxysklerol is used in the treatment of varicose veins. The medicine is also used in the treatment of hemangioma since it is a vascular problem in hemangioma. Thanks to the medicine, problematic vessels can be closed permanently. It can be applied to all raised and superficial hemangiomas
[1] Smith, C. J. F., Friedlander, S. F., Guma, M., Kavanaugh, A., & Chambers, C. D. (2017). Infantile hemangiomas: an updated review on risk factors, pathogenesis, and treatment. Birth defects research, 109(11), 809-815.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5839165/ [2] Chiller, K. G., Passaro, D., & Frieden, I. J. (2002). Hemangiomas of infancy: clinical characteristics, morphologic subtypes, and their relationship to race, ethnicity, and sex. Archives of dermatology, 138(12), 1567-1576. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/article-abstract/479106 [3] Hasan, H. Y., Hinshaw, J. L., Borman, E. J., Gegios, A., Leverson, G., & Winslow, E. R. (2014). Assessing normal growth of hepatic hemangiomas during long-term follow-up. JAMA surgery, 149(12), 1266-1271. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25321079Reproduction or republication strictly prohibited without prior written permission. Translated by (Nasab Almlhem)