Infantile hemangioma
Updates to Article Attributes
Infantile haemangiomas are benign vascular neoplasms that correspond to the most common tumours of infancy. They virtually can occur anywhere, but the majority has a head and neck distribution. Characteristic growth and subsequent involution observed during the early childhood is the usual natural history of these tumours, and, in general, they do not require surgical treatment.
On imaging, they present as well-circumscribed soft tissue masses with similar density and intensity to the muscles and ivivid contrast enhancement.
This article aims to be a generic discussion of the condition, for detailed and more specific imaging features, please refer to sub-articles:
Pathology
They characteristically are small or absent at birth. During the first year of life, they have a proliferative phase with progressive enlargement, followed bt a stationary period and, finally, a progressive involution that happens along the early childhood.
Associations
Radiographic features
General characteristics of the infantile haemangiomas will be described bellow, please refer to the sub-articles for more details in such common anatomical distributions.
Ultrasound
Infantile haemangiomas are predominantly superficial soft tissue lesions and thus can be easily assessed by ultrasound. They present as an echogenic well-defined mass that may exhibit a prominent high-flow vascularity on colour Doppler 1.
CT
Lobulated mass with same density to the adjacent muscles and exhibiting a vivid and homogeneous contrast enhancement. They do not contain phleboliths.
MRI
- T1: intermediate signal, between that of muscle and fat
- T2: hyperintense. Small low-signal-intensity areas may be present (flow-voids, fibrous tissue, or calcification)
- T1 C+ (Gd): homogeneous enhancement
Differential diagnosis
-
arteriovenous malformations
multiple flow voids
- feeding and draining vessels
-<li><a title="Orbital infantile haemangioma" href="/articles/capillary-haemangioma-of-the-orbit">orbital infantile haemangioma</a></li>-<li><a title="parotid infantile haemangioma" href="/articles/parotid-infantile-haemangioma">parotid infantile haemangioma</a></li>-</ul><h4>Pathology</h4><p>They characteristically are small or absent at birth. During the first year of life, they have a proliferative phase with progressive enlargement, followed bt a stationary period and, finally, a progressive involution that happens along the early childhood.</p><h6>Associations</h6><ul><li><a title="PHACE syndrome" href="/articles/phace-syndrome">PHACE syndrome</a></li></ul><h4>Radiographic features</h4><p>General characteristics of the infantile haemangiomas will be described bellow, please refer to the sub-articles for more details in such common anatomical distributions. </p><h5>Ultrasound </h5><p>Infantile haemangiomas are predominantly superficial soft tissue lesions and thus can be easily assessed by ultrasound. They present as an echogenic well-defined mass that may exhibit a prominent high-flow vascularity on colour Doppler <sup>1</sup>.</p><h5>CT</h5><p>Lobulated mass with same density to the adjacent muscles and exhibiting a vivid and homogeneous contrast enhancement. They do not contain <a title="Phleboliths" href="/articles/phleboliths">phleboliths</a>.</p><h5>MRI</h5><ul>- +<li><a href="/articles/capillary-haemangioma-of-the-orbit">orbital infantile haemangioma</a></li>
- +<li><a href="/articles/parotid-infantile-haemangioma">parotid infantile haemangioma</a></li>
- +</ul><h4>Pathology</h4><p>They characteristically are small or absent at birth. During the first year of life, they have a proliferative phase with progressive enlargement, followed bt a stationary period and, finally, a progressive involution that happens along the early childhood.</p><h6>Associations</h6><ul><li><a href="/articles/phace-syndrome">PHACE syndrome</a></li></ul><h4>Radiographic features</h4><p>General characteristics of the infantile haemangiomas will be described bellow, please refer to the sub-articles for more details in such common anatomical distributions. </p><h5>Ultrasound </h5><p>Infantile haemangiomas are predominantly superficial soft tissue lesions and thus can be easily assessed by ultrasound. They present as an echogenic well-defined mass that may exhibit a prominent high-flow vascularity on colour Doppler <sup>1</sup>.</p><h5>CT</h5><p>Lobulated mass with same density to the adjacent muscles and exhibiting a vivid and homogeneous contrast enhancement. They do not contain <a href="/articles/phleboliths">phleboliths</a>.</p><h5>MRI</h5><ul>
-</ul>- +</ul><h4>Differential diagnosis</h4><ul><li>
- +<p>arteriovenous malformations</p>
- +<ul>
- +<li><p>multiple flow voids</p></li>
- +<li>feeding and draining vessels</li>
- +</ul>
- +</li></ul>
References changed:
- 1. Kim I. Radiology Illustrated: Pediatric Radiology. Springer. (2014) ISBN:3642355730. <a href="http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN3642355730">Read it at Google Books</a> - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/3642355730">Find it at Amazon</a><span class="auto"></span>
- 2. Vilanova JC, Barceló J, Smirniotopoulos JG et-al. Hemangioma from head to toe: MR imaging with pathologic correlation. Radiographics. 2004;24 (2): 367-85. <a href="http://radiographics.rsna.org/content/24/2/367.full">Radiographics (full text)</a> - <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1148/rg.242035079">doi:10.1148/rg.242035079</a> - <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15026587">Pubmed citation</a><span class="ref_v3"></span>
Systems changed:
- Paediatrics
Image 1 MRI (T2) ( create )
Image 2 CT (C+ arterial phase) ( create )
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