What department should I go to for an eye hemangioma?

Written by Li Chang Yue
General Surgery
Updated on September 01, 2024
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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
1min 7sec home-news-image

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.

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Written by Zhou Chen
Oncology
1min 15sec home-news-image

How are hemangiomas formed?

The etiology of hemangioma is unknown. Studies have shown that the use of progesterone during pregnancy, undergoing chorionic villus sampling, hypertensive disorders during pregnancy, and low birth weight at the time of birth may be related to the formation of hemangiomas. It is believed that hemangiomas are a result of minor misconfigurations in the control gene segments during the embryonic development process, particularly during the early stages of vascular tissue differentiation. This leads to abnormal tissue differentiation at specific sites, eventually developing into hemangiomas. During the early months of embryonic development, from eight to twelve months, mechanical damage to embryonic tissue and local bleeding can cause some hematopoietic stem cells to be distributed among other embryonic cells, some of which differentiate into vessel-like tissues and ultimately form hemangiomas.

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Written by Zhou Chen
Oncology
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Can hemangiomas be left untreated?

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 Yan Chun
Oncology
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Can people with hemangioma drink alcohol?

Hemangiomas are benign tumors of the blood vessels. It is advisable for patients with hemangiomas to abstain from alcohol, as drinking is a harmful stimulus. Prolonged alcohol consumption can lead to hardening of the vessels, which may easily cause rupture and bleeding of the hemangiomas, leading to adverse consequences. Therefore, once hemangiomas are detected, it is recommended to reduce or avoid alcohol consumption. Although hemangiomas are generally benign tumors and often do not cause significant damage to the body, some hemangiomas, due to their specific growth location and size, can sometimes lead to rupture and bleeding or affect bodily functions, thereby significantly impacting the quality of life. Such cases may require active surgical treatment, administration of sclerosing agents, or certain medications and physical therapies.

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Written by Yan Chun
Oncology
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How to determine if a hemangioma is regressing

Clinically, hemangiomas are a type of benign tumor that mostly require medication, surgery, or local treatments to regress. In rare cases, hemangiomas can regress spontaneously, especially when they are small and the underlying cause of the hemangioma has been removed. Then, the color of the hemangioma may change from its original dark red to a bright red, and gradually change to a color similar to that of normal skin, indicating that the hemangioma has regressed. Clinically, depending on the impact of the hemangioma on the patient, treatment options can include medication, local microwave therapy, laser treatments, or surgical removal.