Hemangioma - What is Hemangioma?

A hemangioma of infancy (or haemangioma of infancy) is a benign self-involuting tumor of endothelial cells (the cells that line blood vessels). In most cases it appears during the first days or weeks of life and will have resolved at the latest by age 10. In infancy, it is the most common tumor.

Before considering the hemangioma, it is important to understand that there have been changes in the terminology used to define, describe and categorize vascular anomalies (abnormal lumps made up of blood vessels).

The term ''hemangioma'' was originally used to describe any vascular tumor-like structure, whether it was present at or around birth or appeared later in life. Mulliken et al. categorized these conditions into two families; a family of self-involuting tumors (growing lesions that eventually disappear) and another family of malformations (enlarged or abnormal vessels present at birth and essentially permanent).

The importance of this distinction is that it makes it possible for early-in-life differentiation between lesions that will resolve versus those that are permanent.

Examples of permanent malformations include Port-wine stains (capillary vascular malformation) and masses of abnormal swollen veins (venous malformations). Unfortunately many textbooks and dictionaries are not up to date, creating great confusion.

Hemangiomas go through three stages of development and decay:

1. In the proliferation stage, a hemangioma grows very quickly. This stage can last up to twelve months.
2. In the rest stage, there is very little change in a hemangioma's appearance. This usually lasts until the infant is one to two years old.
3. In the involution phase, a hemangioma finally begins to diminish in size. Fifty percent of lesions will have disappeared by age five with the vast majority gone by 10 years of age.

Further Reading

• Hemangioma Symptoms
• Hemangioma Causes
• Hemangioma Complications
• Hemangioma Treatments

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