Lower socioeconomic status is associated with delayed access to care for infantile hemangioma: A cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Early specialist evaluation during rapid proliferative growth of complicated infantile hemangiomas (IHs) is crucial. Health disparities and barriers of access to care for children with IHs have not been examined. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with age at presentation to a subspecialist for IH evaluation. METHOD: A retrospective cohort study of 804 children presenting to a large academic hospital. The primary outcome was age at initial presentation. Covariates included demographic, socioeconomic, geographic, and clinical characteristics. Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program were proxies for lower SES. Analysis of covariance, chi-square tests, and generalized ordered logistic regressions were performed. RESULTS: Children with lower SES had higher odds of presenting after 3 months of age (odds ratio, 2.11; 95% confidence interval, 1.31-3.38). In the subset that qualified for the institutional care management program (ICMP), no risk factors were associated with delayed presentation. LIMITATIONS: Use of insurance and economic distress as proxies for SES; exclusion of uninsured children, which may have resulted in underestimation of racioethnic effects; and examination of a single academic center, which may limit generalizability. CONCLUSIONS: Children with IHs and lower SES were more likely to present later to specialists, but those enrolled in an ICMP were not, suggesting that integrated ICMPs may mitigate disparities and delayed access to care for IHs among lower-SES populations.

Infantile Hemangiomas.

Infantile hemangiomas (IHs) are the most common benign vascular tumors of childhood. They develop during the first few weeks of life and naturally progress by proliferating over several months before they involute and resolve; this renders them inconsequential in many cases, but sometimes IHs can have detrimental consequences on function and disfigurement. Hence, systemic propranolol has become a crucial element in IH management, alongside various other medical, procedural, and surgical options that aim to promote their quicker resolution and prevent and alleviate complications.

Infantile Hemangiomas Cleared by Combined Therapy With Pulsed Dye Laser and Propranolol.

BACKGROUND: Oral propranolol is the first-line therapy for infantile hemangioma. Combining it with pulse dye laser (PDL) (595nm-long PDL) could reduce treatment duration and sequelae incidence and severity. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of PDL-propranolol treatment on duration to cure and sequelae. METHODS: All consecutive patients with infantile hemangioma who were cured by PDL-propranolol treatment were identified. RESULTS: In the 27 cases, average age at treatment start was 4.3 ± 3.8 months, mean tumor diameter was 11.1 ± 14.0 cm2, and tumor-type was most common (72.4% of lesions). The patients received 9.8 ± 10.5 PDL sessions. After ensuring patients had no physical contraindications, including heart disease, oral propranolol was started at 1 mg/kg/d, increased up to 3 mg/kg/d as a maintenance dose. Mean propranolol treatment duration was 11.1 ± 4.9 months. Total treatment duration was 15.3 ± 10.8 months. CONCLUSION: Our data in the context of recent literature suggest combining propranolol with PDL may reduce propranolol duration without increasing harms.

Clinical Features, Prognostic Factors, and Treatment Interventions for Ulceration in Patients With Infantile Hemangioma.

Importance: Ulceration is a common complication of infantile hemangioma (IH), which leads to substantial morbidity. Ulceration in IH has not been systematically studied since the advent of ß-blocker therapy for IH. Objectives: To examine treatment interventions used for ulceration in IH and identify clinical prognostic indicators of healing time. Design, Setting, and Participants: A retrospective, multicenter cohort study was conducted on 436 consecutive patients with a clinical diagnosis of ulcerated IH and available clinical photographs. Patients receiving care at tertiary referral centers evaluated between 2012 and 2016 were included; statistical and data analysis were performed from February 7 to April 27, 2020. Exposures: Clinical characteristics, treatment interventions, course, complications, and resource use were analyzed. Treatment interventions for ulceration in IH included local (wound care, topical), systemic (ß-blocker, corticosteroids), and procedural (pulsed-dye laser). Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary end point was time to complete or nearly complete ulceration healing. Clinical characteristics were analyzed to determine the responses to most common interventions and prognostic factors for healing of ulceration. Results: Of the 436 patients included in the study, 327 were girls (75.0%); median age at ulceration was 13.7 weeks (interquartile range, 8.86-21.30 weeks). The median heal time was 4.79 weeks (95% CI, 3.71-5.86 weeks) with wound care alone, 5.14 weeks (95% CI, 4.57-6.00 weeks) with timolol, 6.36 weeks (95% CI, 5.57-8.00 weeks) with a systemic ß-blocker, and 7.71 weeks (95% CI, 6.71-10.14 weeks) with multimodal therapy. After adjusting for IH size, a dose of propranolol less than or equal to 1 mg/kg/d was associated with shorter healing time compared with higher propranolol doses (hazard ratio, 2.04; 95% CI, 1.11 to 3.73; P = .02). Size of the IH was identified as a significant prognostic factor for healing time in multivariable analysis. Increasing size of IH portends a proportionately longer time to heal of the ulceration. Conclusions and Relevance: Despite the use of ß-blockers, this cohort study found that a subset of patients with IH ulceration continued to experience prolonged IH healing times. Larger IH size appears to be a poor prognostic factor for time to heal. For patients requiring systemic therapy, initiation of propranolol at lower doses (≤1 mg/kg/d) should be considered.

Efficacy and safety of adrenergic beta-antagonist combined with lasers in the treatment of infantile hemangiomas: a meta-analysis.

To investigate the efficacy and safety of combined therapy with adrenergic beta-antagonist and lasers in infantile hemangiomas (IH). A search of Pubmed, Cochrane, Embase, Wanfang Date, CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) and CBM (China Biology Medicine) databases was conducted to identify studies that examined response to combined therapy with adrenergic beta-antagonist and laser in IH patients. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) in random-effects or fixed-effects models were calculated with Review Manger 5.3. Efficacy of combined therapy with oral propranolol and lasers was significantly better than that of propranolol (OR 5.79, 95% CI 2.52-13.31, P < 0.00001) or lasers (OR 5.09, 95% CI 3.04-8.54, P < 0.00001) alone. Combined therapy with topical timolol and lasers was more effective than topical timolol (OR 3.71, 95% CI 2.46-5.59, P < 0.00001) or lasers (OR 10.92, 95% CI 1.90-62.70, P = 0.007) alone. We did not observe statistically significant differences of adverse reactions between combined therapy with oral propranolol and lasers and propranolol (OR 1.09, 95% CI 0.64-1.84, P = 0.75) or lasers (OR 0.83, 95% CI 0.28-2.50, P = 0.74). The incidence of adverse reactions in combined therapy with topical timolol and lasers and monotherapy with topical timolol therapy (OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.14-1.80, P = 0.75) or lasers (OR 0.29, 95% CI 0.06-1.55, P = 0.15) has no significant difference. The average treatment duration of combined therapy may be shorter than that of monotherapy. Combination therapy of adrenergic beta-antagonist and lasers on IH is significantly more effective than monotherapy, while the safety of combination therapy was not significantly higher than that of monotherapy.

Enhanced Percutaneous Delivery of Beta-Blockers Using Thermal Resurfacing Drug Delivery System for Topical Treatment of Infantile Hemangiomas.

BACKGROUND: Infantile hemangiomas (IHs) are the most common vascular tumors in children. In the past few years, topical beta-blockers (bBs) have been reported to be an effective treatment of superficial IHs. OBJECTIVE: We sought to evaluate the clinical effectiveness and safety profile of enhanced percutaneous delivery of bBs for the treatment of IH. METHODS: A retrospective study of all cases of IHs treated with enhanced percutaneous delivery of bBs between 2018 and 2019 was performed. Epidemiologic, clinical, and treatment data, including effectiveness score and safety, were reviewed. RESULTS: The study included 11 patients with a total of 11 IHs. Of the total number of IHs, 7 (63.7%) showed a good response to treatment and 4 (36.3%) had a partial response; thus all patients (100%) had good or partial response to treatment. No systemic or local adverse effects were reported. LIMITATIONS: This is an uncontrolled retrospective study. CONCLUSION: Enhanced percutaneous delivery of bBs is a safe and efficient topical therapy for IH.

Pediatric dermatology emergencies.

Many pediatric skin conditions can be safely monitored with minimal intervention, but certain skin conditions are emergent and require immediate attention and proper assessment of the neonate, infant, or child. We review the following pediatric dermatology emergencies so that clinicians can detect and accurately diagnose these conditions to avoid delayed treatment and considerable morbidity and mortality if missed: staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome (SSSS), impetigo, eczema herpeticum (EH), Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH), infantile hemangioma (IH), and IgA vasculitis.

Pulmonary capillary haemangiomatosis: a distinct entity?

Pulmonary capillary haemangiomatosis (PCH) is a rare and incompletely understood histopathological finding characterised by abnormal capillary proliferation within the alveolar interstitium, which has long been noted to share many overlapping features with pulmonary veno-occlusive disease (PVOD). But are PCH and PVOD distinct entities that occur in isolation, or are they closely intertwined manifestations along a spectrum of the same disease? The classic clinical features of both PCH and PVOD include signs and symptoms related to pulmonary hypertension, hypoxaemia, markedly impaired diffusion capacity of the lung and abnormal chest imaging with ground glass opacities, septal lines and lymphadenopathy. In recent years, increasing evidence suggests that the clinical presentation, histopathological features, genetic substrate and pathobiological mechanisms of PCH and PVOD are overlapping and usually indistinguishable. The discovery of biallelic mutations in the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 α kinase 4 (EIF2AK4) gene in heritable PCH and PVOD greatly advanced our understanding of the overlapping nature of these conditions. Furthermore, recognition of PCH and PVOD-like changes in other pulmonary vascular diseases and in conditions that cause chronic pulmonary venous hyper-perfusion or hypertension suggests that PCH/PVOD may develop as a reactive process to various insults or injuries to the pulmonary vasculature, rather than being primary angiogenic disorders.

Laser photocoagulation, intravitreal anti-VEGF, and vitreous surgery for the treatment of juxtapapillary retinal capillary hemangioma.

Juxtapapillary retinal capillary hemangiomas (JRCHs) are benign vascular tumors located on or adjacent to the optic nerve head. A 19-year-old girl presented with epiretinal membrane (ERM) associated with an elevated and round vascular tumoral mass located in the juxtapapillary region of her left eye. She was subsequently diagnosed with isolated JRCH. A combined approach with laser photocoagulation and intravitreal bevacizumab injection was used to facilitate shrinkage of the tumor preoperatively and pars plana vitrectomy was used to remove the tumor and ERM. A small remnant of tumoral mass remained intact and did not show any growth for 7 years.

[Clinical analysis of juxtapapillary retinal capillary hemangioma].

Objective: To discuss the clinical features and treatment of juxtapapillary retinal capillary hemangioma (JRCH). Methods: Retrospective study of the clinical data of 6 patients (7 eyes) who were diagnosed with JRCH, among which 2 eyes were treated by laser therapy (thermotherapy TTT or photodynamic therapy PDT), 2 eyes were treated by intravitreal anti-VEGF injection, 2 eyes with vitreous hemorrhage were treated with vitrectomy (PPV)+ anti-VEGF, and 1 eye was untreated. Results: In the 6 cases, the gender ratio of male to female is 2∶1 with average age of 46 years. Four eyes were associated with macular edema(57.1%), vitreous hemorrhage(n=2, 28.6%), and epiretinal membrane(n=1, 14.2%) in the initial examination. Three patients were associated with von Hippel-Lindau(VHL). During the follow-up period, the visual acuity of the 2 patients treated by TTT decreased. Among the 2 eyes treated by anti-VEGF, the visual acuity of 1 eye associated with macular edema increased, and the visual acuity of 1 eye with macular epiretinal membrane did not change significantly, the visual acuity of both 2 eyes treated by PPV+anti-VEGF improved, the vision of the 1 eye untreated appeared to be stable. Conclusions: Juxtapapillary retinal capillary hemangioma is the orange or red vascular hamartomas that occur on or adjacent to the optic nerve head. It is often associated with macular edema, vitreous hemorrhage, and local subretinal effusion. Symptomatic treatment of complications can effectively improve the visual acuity of patients, while long-term follow-up observation should be organized for patients without complications, laser treatment appears to be ineffective. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2019, 55:609-615).

[Infantile haemangioma; refer and treat on time]. / Infantiel hemangioom.

Infantile haemangioma is a relatively common and usually benign condition that occurs in infancy. Nonetheless, during the growth phase in the first weeks or months of the child's life it can have a profound impact on both the patient and parents, especially when functional problems or complications occur. Care and attention by physicians is important at this stage; the information given by many healthcare practitioners that the infantile haemangioma will spontaneously disappear is often insufficiently reassuring and is not always correct. With the discovery of the therapeutic potential of oral beta-blockers, ten years ago, treatment has become more effective and more straightforward. Counselling on treatment with beta-blockers should be considered with low threshold. Consultation of a centre of expertise, possibly electronically, can facilitate timely referral so that growth of the infantile haemangioma can be stopped and complications may be prevented. Managing anxiety levels among parents/carers can be an important reason for consultation of a centre of expertise. During the growth phase of infantile haemangioma, careful monitoring is indicated, since time is of the essence for cases of infantile haemangioma with impending complications, associations or severe deformation.

Combination of Sclerotherapy and Dual-Wavelength Laser in the Management of Infantile Hemangiomas in Chinese Infants.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of combination therapy with sclerotherapy and dual-wavelength pulsed dye laser (PDL) & Nd:YAG for infantile hemangiomas (IHs). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty-nine patients with IH received treatment with sclerotherapy and dual-wavelength PDL & Nd:YAG treatment at 4-week intervals. Observers assessed the size and color of IH using a size rating scale and color rating scale before and after treatments. RESULTS: The study showed that IH improved significantly after several sessions of treatment. Sclerotherapy reduced the size of IH, whereas dual-wavelength laser lightened the color of IH. No serious adverse effects occurred. CONCLUSION: Combined sclerotherapy and dual-wavelength laser treatment is an effective and safe option for IH.

Current treatment and management of infantile hemangiomas.

Infantile hemangiomas, otherwise known as infantile capillary hemangiomas, strawberry hemangiomas, or strawberry nevi, are nonmalignant vascular tumors that commonly affect children. The natural disease course typically involves growth for up to a year, followed by regression without treatment over a period of years with no cosmetic or functional sequelae. Less commonly, however, infantile hemangiomas can become a threat to vision or even life depending on location and size of the lesion. In addition, infantile hemangiomas, particularly those involving the face, may be disfiguring and result in lifelong sequelae. ß-blockers have become a mainstay of therapy given their relatively low-risk profile and efficacy. Other treatment modalities previously described in the literature include corticosteroids (both intralesional and systemic), imiquimod, vincristine, bleomycin A5, and interferon α. More recently, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors such as captopril have been used. Laser therapy and, less commonly, surgical excision are also available treatment options. We review current recommended management and treatment of capillary hemangiomas and discuss the benefits and risks of all previously reported treatment modalities.

Salvage therapy of reactive capillary hemangiomas: Apatinib alleviates the unique adverse events induced by camrelizumab in non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Camrelizumab is a promising anti-programmed cell death-1 agent for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and induces reactive capillary hemangiomas (RCHs). Routine clinical management of this unique and prevalent toxicity has been summarized in previous studies. The objective of this study was to provide evidence of apatinib as a salvage therapy for RCHs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this single-center, observational study, patients with NSCLC who were over 18 years of age and treated with camrelizumab were enrolled. The incidence of RCHs, onset and duration time, severity, evolution, and clinical practices, especially with apatinib, for their management and impact on quality of life, were recorded during a 6-month follow-up. RESULTS: A total of 28 patients were included. The incidence of RCHs was 28.6% (8/28). The median onset and duration time were 6 weeks and 8 weeks, respectively. Six (21.4%) patients had mild and moderate RCHs and four (9.3%) patients achieved a rapid regression of RCHs with the application of apatinib. The impact of the RCHs on quality of life was limited and assessed with Dermatology Life Quality Index scores. No treatment-associated termination was observed. CONCLUSION: The combination of camrelizumab and apatinib in the treatment of NSCLC reduced the incidence of RCHs. Apatinib appeared to be a salvage therapy of RCHs, which leads to rapid regression of RCHs with no impairment on the quality of life.

Late growth of infantile hemangiomas in children >3 years of age: A retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: The proliferative phase of infantile hemangiomas (IHs) is usually complete by 9 months of life. Late growth beyond age 3 years is rarely reported. OBJECTIVE: To describe the demographic and clinic characteristics of a cohort of patients with late growth of IH, defined as growth in a patient >3 years of age. METHODS: A multicenter, retrospective cohort study. RESULTS: In total, 59 patients, 85% of which were female, met the inclusion criteria. The mean first episode of late growth was 4.3 (range 3-8.5) years. Head and neck location (55/59; 93%) and presence of deep hemangioma (52/59; 88%) were common characteristics. Posterior fossa malformations, hemangiomas, arterial anomalies, cardiac defects, eye abnormalities (PHACE) syndrome was noted in 20 of 38 (53%) children with segmental facial IH. Systemic therapy (corticosteroid or ß-blocker) was given during infancy in 58 of 59 (98%) and 24 of 59 (41%) received systemic therapy (ß-blockers) for late IH growth. LIMITATIONS: The retrospective nature and ascertainment by investigator recall are limitations of the study. CONCLUSION: Late IH growth can occur in children after 3 years of age. Risk factors include head and neck location, segmental morphology, and involvement of deep dermal/subcutaneous tissues.

[Pulmonary veno-occlusive disease/pulmonary capillary hemangiomatosis: A case report and literature review].

Pulmonary veno-occlusive disease (PVOD)/pulmonary capillary hemangiomatosis (PCH) is a rare form of pulmonary vascular disease that causes pulmonary arterial hypertension. The diagnosis of PVOD/PCH can be established by the combination of clinical features, physical examination, radiological findings, lung function, bronchoscopy and other resources. There is no established medical therapy for PVOD/PCH, and the only curative therapy for PVOD/PCH is lung transplantation. A girl with PVOD/PCH was diagnosed in the Second Xiangya Hospital. Combining the characteristics for this case with the relevant literature, we summarized the epidemiology, etiology, diagnosis and treatment for the disease to raise doctors' awareness for this rare disease.