Rapidly involuting congenital hemangioma with fetal involution

Abstract

Uncommon congenital hemangiomas differ from common infantile hemangiomas in their appearance, postnatal behavior, histopathology, and immunohistologic staining. Two types are well described in the literature: noninvoluting congenital hemangioma (NICH) and rapidly involuting congenital hemangioma (RICH). We report a series of infants with another presentation of congenital hemangioma that arises prenatally and is nearly regressed at birth. This was a retrospective case series. We describe six infants with unusual congenital vascular tumors. Each lesion presented at birth as a violaceous, atrophic plaque with a surrounding pale halo. The lesions involuted in infancy, fading in color and becoming atrophic, with prominent central veins, similar to RICH in the final stage of regression. The distinctive morphology and behavior suggests that these tumors undergo a life cycle of proliferation and involution during fetal life. We describe a new variant of congenital hemangioma that we refer to as rapidly involuting congenital hemangioma with fetal involution.