Can hemangiomas be left untreated?

Written by Zhou Chen
Oncology
Updated on September 18, 2024
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Hemangiomas on the head and face, and those around the eyes, tend to invade the eyeballs or cause complications such as glaucoma. Hemangiomas in the parotid gland area can compress or damage the facial nerve, leading to facial paralysis. Nasal hemangiomas may block the nasal passages, causing deformities of the nostrils. Lip hemangiomas, due to friction from sucking or eating, are prone to rupture causing deformities of the lip; ear hemangiomas, because of poor blood circulation, are prone to infection after rupture. Hemangiomas on the limbs and body, due to the rapid growth of some, can invade muscle tissue, bones, or joints, causing local pain and, in severe cases, joint deformities and other functional symptoms. Therefore, it is necessary to treat hemangiomas.

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Written by Wu Ben Rong
Pediatrics
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Causes and Treatment of Infantile Hemangiomas

Infantile hemangiomas are usually caused by congenital factors, and the pathogenesis and specific causes of hemangiomas are not very clear at the moment. Since there is a certain possibility that infantile hemangiomas can heal on their own, if the hemangioma's location is not very noticeable and not particularly significant, it is advisable to initially observe it. If the hemangioma has not healed on its own by the time the child turns five, consideration can be given to treat it with sclerosing injections or through surgery. If the hemangioma is located in an internal organ and does not severely affect the child's health under normal circumstances, it could still be quite dangerous if it bursts. Therefore, parents should give it enough attention.

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Written by Tong Peng
Pediatrics
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Why do children develop hemangiomas?

Pediatric hemangiomas are strictly considered a benign condition within vascular malformations. There are various causes, often due to arteriovenous malformations in children during prenatal development, especially due to abnormal proliferation of blood vessel cells during embryonic development, resulting in hemangiomas after birth. As the child ages, the hemangioma tends to grow larger. Additionally, some hemangiomas are caused by trauma in children. During this period, children's skin and mucous membranes are relatively delicate, leading to hemangiomas due to local stimulation of the capillaries by injuries. Therefore, it is best to classify hemangiomas through examination at a reputable hospital. If the hemangioma is located in a particularly sensitive area, early intervention and treatment are necessary.

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Written by Li Chang Yue
General Surgery
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What department should I go to for an eye hemangioma?

Hemangiomas of the eye generally require registration with the ophthalmology department first, but for some special parts of the eye, hemangiomas may affect the brain, so for more complex or difficult-to-diagnose eye hemangiomas, one can also register with the neurosurgery department for further diagnosis or assessment of the condition. Ophthalmology can treat eye hemangiomas through traditional surgical removal, as well as some methods like laser, cryotherapy, and liquid nitrogen, with relatively ideal effects. For deep or severe hemangiomas, a thorough preoperative assessment should be conducted, and then an appropriate treatment method should be chosen for surgical treatment, which generally yields a satisfactory outcome.

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Written by Zhou Chen
Oncology
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Is a hemangioma a tumor?

Hemangiomas are formed by the proliferation of vascular endothelial cells during embryonic development and are commonly seen in congenital benign tumors or vascular malformations of the skin and soft tissues, mostly observed at birth or shortly after birth. The residual embryonic vascular endothelial cells, active endothelial-like embryonic buds invade adjacent tissues, forming endothelial-like cords, which after canalization connect with existing blood vessels to form hemangiomas. The blood vessels within the tumor form a separate system, not connected to surrounding blood vessels. Hemangiomas can occur throughout the body; those occurring in the oral and maxillofacial regions account for 60% of all hemangiomas, followed by 25% in the trunk and 15% in the limbs. Therefore, some hemangiomas are congenital benign tumors, while others are caused by vascular malformations.

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Written by Zhou Chen
Oncology
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Can hemangiomas resolve on their own?

Infantile hemangiomas may regress spontaneously in some cases, so for lesions that are relatively stable in growth, temporary observation without treatment is recommended, especially avoiding surgical treatment. Radiation therapy, which may cause secondary developmental deformities, is not recommended. Medicinal treatment mainly involves the use of steroids and interferons. Steroid therapy is the most common drug treatment for hemangiomas, with the first reports of using steroids for hemangiomas appearing in the mid to late 1960s. Since then, prednisone and prednisolone have been considered first-line drugs for treating life-threatening or vision-threatening hemangiomas. The effective rate of steroid treatment for hemangiomas varies from 30% to 90%. Therefore, we suggest that since infantile hemangiomas can regress on their own, lesions that are stable in growth can be temporarily observed.