Evaluation of Cases of Infantile Hemangioma Requiring Treatment

Abstract

Aim: Infantile hemangiomas are the most common benign vascular tumours in infants. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of propranolol therapy in patients with infantile hemangioma. Materials and methods: This study included patients with infantile hemangiomas in the age range of 0 to 24 months who received propranolol therapy between September 2015 and 2019. Hemangioma activity score, ultrasonography imaging and photographic evaluations were performed before and at 6 months of treatment. Parental satisfaction with the results of treatment was recorded. Results: Our study included 85 patients with infantile hemangioma requiring treatment. Twenty patients were boys and 65 were girls. The mean age at starting treatment was 7.2±5.9 months (median: 5.0). While the average lesion area measured by ultrasonography before treatment was 209.7±207.5 mm2, it reduced to 105.1±145.7 mm2 (p<0.001) after treatment. Similarly, while the mean hemangioma activity score was 3.8±0.9 before treatment, it decreased significantly to 1.3±0.8 after the treatment (p<0.001). A noticeable improvement in photographic evaluation with the treatment was observed in infantile hemangiomas of the patients and 82% of the families were satisfied with the results of the treatment. Conclusions: The results of the study suggested that propranolol therapy used in the treatment of infantile hemangioma is an effective treatment option according to the photographic comparison, ultrasonography data, and hemangioma activity score evaluations.