Faculty Collaboration Database

The nonrandom distribution of facial hemangiomas. Arch Dermatol 2003 Jul;139(7):869-75

Date

07/23/2003

Pubmed ID

12873881

DOI

10.1001/archderm.139.7.869

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0041807969 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   240 Citations

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To map sites of occurrence of facial infantile hemangiomas and correlate these with pattern of tumor growth, clinical complications, and proximity to structural and developmental landmarks.

DESIGN: A retrospective medical record review of 205 patients diagnosed with facial infantile hemangioma.

SETTING: Arkansas Children's Hospital, Little Rock, a 250-bed teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

PATIENTS: Based on their clinical photographs, 232 of the hemangiomas were mapped on a facial schematic. Each lesion was encoded with a number reflective of its location, and this number was shared by other lesions occurring at the same site. Frequencies of complicating ulceration and airway obstruction were determined by medical record review.

RESULTS: Two patterns of tumor growth were evident among the hemangiomas analyzed: focal (177 lesions [76.3%]) and diffuse (55 lesions [23.7%]). The focal hemangiomas mapped to 22 sites of occurrence, all near lines of mesenchymal or mesenchymal-ectodermal embryonic fusion. The 55 diffuse hemangiomas showed a segmental tissue distribution and thus were designated as frontonasal (15 lesions [27%]), maxillary (19 lesions [35%]), or mandibular (21 lesions [38%]). Ulceration was 3 times more common in patients with diffuse hemangiomas (21 [51%] of 41) than in patients with focal hemangiomas (28 [17%] of 164). Airway obstruction was characteristic of diffuse mandibular hemangiomas.

CONCLUSIONS: Facial infantile hemangiomas occurred in 2 distinct patterns of tissue involvement: a focal type with a tumorlike appearance and a less common diffuse type with a plaquelike appearance. The diffuse lesions were more likely to be complicated by ulceration or airway obstruction and showed a strikingly segmental distribution pattern. Focal hemangiomas, in contrast, showed a predilection for regions of embryological fusion.

Author List

Waner M, North PE, Scherer KA, Frieden IJ, Waner A, Mihm MC Jr

Author

Paula E. North MD, PhD Professor in the Pathology department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Facial Neoplasms
Female
Hemangioma
Humans
Infant
Male
Retrospective Studies
Skin Neoplasms