Does treatment with propranolol affect quality of life in infantile hemangioma patients and their parents?

This study compares the quality of life (QoL) of infantile hemangioma (IH) patients and their parents at the beginning of the involution phase with QoL in the growth phase. Additionally, the differences in QoL between propranolol-treated patients and non-treated patients are assessed. Overall, QoL seems to improve, even before involution occurs. Due to the efficacy of propranolol treatment, the impact on QoL remains relatively mild even in patients with severe IH.

Influence of infantile hemangioma severity and activity on QoL of patients and their parents: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Quality of life (QoL) data are lacking in children with infantile hemangioma (IH) and their parents/caregivers. Available data are conflicting. OBJECTIVES: To determine QoL of (parents of) patients with IH in the proliferative phase related to IH-severity and activity. METHODS: Parents of 59 IH-patients (≤ 6 months) were asked to fill in the Dutch IH-specific QoL-questionnaire (D-IH-QoL) within 1 month after their first visit to our tertiary referral center. Hemangioma Severity Scale (HSS) score and Hemangioma Activity Score (HAS) were assessed. RESULTS: D-IH-QoL-scores were low; mean: 22.6 (range 1-56; max 116). Mean HSS score and HAS score were 8.4 (range 2-28) and 4.0 (range 1.5-6), respectively. Higher HSS scores correlated with worse QoL (ρ = .358; P = .005). HAS scores did not correlate with QoL scores. CONCLUSION: An IH only seems to have limited influence on QoL in young children and their parents in the first month of their first doctor's visit. QoL is more affected in more severe IH. Physicians should be alert to the impact of IH, optionally guided by the HSS score.

Three-dimensional stereophotogrammetry: a novel method in volumetric measurement of infantile hemangioma.

Accurate and objective measurement of volume changes in infantile hemangiomas (IHs) is essential in routine clinical practice and clinical studies, particularly in the changing therapeutic landscape after the discovery of propranolol. Several bedside techniques for volume measurement have been described in the literature, but an objective method of measurement of this variable, dynamic vascular tumor is lacking. Three-dimensional (3D) phototechnology with data analysis is an up-and-coming technique in the objective measurement of facial volume changes. In this pilot study, the usability and clinical relevance of two methods of 3D stereophotogrammetry in the volume measurement of IH were explored.