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Early surgical intervention may be considered in select infant focal hemangiomas

Surgical removal of some infant hemangiomas may be considered instead of observation or therapeutic management.

The researchers aimed to identify lesions of the head and neck that may not respond to management with beta-blockers, and that may be optimal candidates for 1-stage surgical excision, according to the findings. Eradication of the hemangiomas, including restoration of facial form and function, in a cohort of five patients aged 3 months to 5 years, served as the primary endpoint. All patients were female.

Surgeons successfully treated the lip, nose, eyelid, cheek and glabella using the tissue expander effect.

One patient was treated with beta-blockers and another underwent steroid therapy but failed to achieve a complete response before surgical intervention. All five patients underwent the tissue expander effect of focal infantile hemangiomas on adjacent tissue that was not impacted. They also were treated with primary closure without anatomical subunits. All patients experienced improved or unaffected function with improved cosmesis. – by Rob Volansky