[Infantile hemangioma: a new indication for propranolol? Retrospective study: a case-series of 25 infants]. / Hémangiome infantile du nourrisson: une nouvelle indication du propranolol? Etude retrospective: série de 25 cas.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: In 2008, the New England Journal of Medicine reported a new indication for propranolol treatment of complicated infantile hemangioma (IH). The objective of this study is to identify any adverse events and to measure the efficacy of propranolol in children with complicated IH, through a retrospective, observational, case-series study of 25 patients treated with propranolol at the Hôpital Universitaire des Enfants Reine Fabiola in Belgium. OBSERVATIONS 25 patients were submitted to this therapy. The treatment was stopped prematurely for two of them, by parental fear of side effects and 48 % presented one or more adverse events; all of which were transient and rapidly controlled by adjusting the doses administered. Mean age at the start of treatment was 4,8 months. A clearly favorable response was observed in 100 % of patients at their first visit after treatment initiation ; a total response was seen in 9 patients, with subtotal and partial responses observed in 9 and 3 patients, respectively, by the end of treatment. CONCLUSION: The real efficacy of propranolol for complicated IH was confirmed by the clearly evident improvement observed in all patients and the absence of non-responders. As global tolerance was also good, propranolol can therefore be considered to be an appropriate first- line treatment for complicated IH.