What is the difference between a hemangioma and a birthmark?

Haemangiomas (he-man-gee-omas) are a common type of birthmark that are usually red or purple. They are sometimes called strawberry naevus because of their bright, red strawberry colour. Haemangiomas can occur anywhere (often on the head and neck areas) and develop shortly after birth.

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Is a birthmark a hemangioma?

A hemangioma (hee man jee OH mah) is a common vascular birthmark, made of extra blood vessels in the skin. It is a benign (non-cancerous) growth.

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How serious is a hemangioma?

They are very common and occur in approximately 10 percent of the world's population. Most cases show no symptoms. Symptomatic hemangiomas represent less than one percent of all hemangiomas, and are more common in women than in men. If left untreated, symptomatic hemangiomas can cause serious neurological effects.

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What happens if hemangioma is left untreated?

Since most hemangiomas go away on their own, doctors may not treat them when they first appear, unless they grow quickly, block vision, block airways or turn into wounds (ulcerate).

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Should I worry about hemangioma?

Most hemangiomas will not need treatment. However, your doctor or dermatologist should monitor them. Large and risky hemangiomas that affect eyesight, breathing, or are at high risk of bleeding may need help.

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What is a hemangioma? Nemours KidsHealth

39 related questions found

What causes a baby to be born with a hemangioma?

Most individuals only have one hemangioma, but some patients may have multiple. The cause of hemangiomas is not fully known. They are not related to drugs or medications that may have been taken during pregnancy. They are not related to any environmental exposures that may have occurred during that time.

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What syndrome has hemangiomas?

PHACE (sometimes also called PHACE association, PHACES syndrome, PHACES association or Pascual-Castroviejo type II syndrome) is an associated collection of disorders characterized by a large infantile hemangioma (benign tumor, presenting as a strawberry mark) on a child's face, scalp and neck, together with a ...

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At what age can you remove a hemangioma?

When surgery is needed, it is usually done before school age to repair damage or scars caused by the infantile hemangioma. Some parents choose to wait until the child is old enough to decide whether to have surgery. Up to half of infantile hemangiomas leave a permanent mark or scar.

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Can hemangiomas become cancerous?

Liver hemangiomas are the most common type of benign liver lesions. They're made up of tangled clumps of blood vessels. Most don't cause symptoms and don't need to be removed. They don't turn into cancerous tumors.

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Can a skin hemangioma become cancerous?

They often develop on the face and neck, and can vary greatly in color, shape, and size. Because hemangiomas very rarely become cancerous, most do not require any medical treatment. However, some hemangiomas can be disfiguring, and many people seek a doctor's care for cosmetic reasons.

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Are hemangiomas hereditary?

Hemangiomas and vascular malformations usually occur by chance. However, they can also be inherited in a family as an autosomal dominant trait. Autosomal dominant means that one gene is necessary to express the condition, and the gene is passed from parent to child with a 50/50 risk for each pregnancy.

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What is a high risk hemangioma?

High-risk infantile hemangiomas are characterized by location, size, and number. Hemangiomas near the eye may affect vision, and lesions near the eye, ear, and nose have high risk of disfigurement.

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What are the two types of hemangiomas?

Types of Hemangiomas
  • Superficial hemangiomas, or a "strawberry mark," will appear flat and bright red on the top layer of the skin.
  • Deep hemangiomas grow beneath the top skin layer, and may not be initially evident until later when they have grown to a noticeable size and protrude beneath the skin.

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What type of birthmarks are hemangiomas?

Hemangiomas. Hemangiomas affect as many as 1 in 20 newborns. Girls are three times as likely to have them as boys, and babies born prematurely are at an increased risk of developing this type of birthmark. There are two common types of hemangiomas: strawberry hemangiomas and deep hemangiomas.

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Why are hemangiomas so common now?

Incidence has increased steadily over the past three decades, correlating significantly with decreasing gestational age at birth and birth weight in affected infants.

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Do hemangiomas burst?

As the size of the hemangioma increases, so does the chance of rupture[8,9], especially if the tumor is located on the surface of the liver and shows extrahepatic growth.

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Should you treat a hemangioma?

Most infantile hemangiomas (IHs) do not need treatment and will go away on their own. Your child's health care professional may check the IH over time to make sure it is shrinking and is not causing any problems. If the IH needs treatment, your child's health care professional will probably first suggest a medicine.

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Will my baby hemangioma get bigger?

Some hemangiomas look like a rubbery red "strawberry" patch of skin, while others may cause a skin bulge that has a blue tint. Most hemangiomas grow larger during the first year of life. Growth is typically fastest in the first 6 months.

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Do hemangiomas keep growing?

About 80 percent of hemangiomas stop growing by about 5 months, Dr. Antaya says. After hitting this plateau phase, they stay unchanged for several months, and then begin to slowly disappear over time (called involution). By the time children reach 10 years of age, hemangiomas are usually gone.

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How do you stop a hemangioma from growing?

Propranolol, a beta blocker medication used for many years to treat high blood pressure, is now commonly given by mouth as an effective treatment for problem hemangiomas. To avoid a growth rebound, the pediatrician may recommend therapy continue until your child's first birthday.

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What are the most common complications of hemangiomas?

IH complications can be categorized as life threatening, obstructive, ulcerative or disfiguring. Life threatening complications include airway and hepatic IHs. Functional complications obstructing vital structures or impairing function include periocular, nasal, labial, parotid, auricular, and breast IHs.

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Can hemangiomas affect the brain?

A cavernous hemangiomas is an abnormal tangle of tightly packed, thin-walled capillaries that are prone to bleeding. In the brain, cavernous hemangiomas may remain stable for years and never cause symptoms or may bleed one or more times and cause seizures or stroke.

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What symptoms do hemangiomas cause?

When a liver hemangioma causes signs and symptoms, they may include:
  • Pain in the upper right abdomen.
  • Feeling full after eating only a small amount of food (early satiety)
  • Nausea.
  • Vomiting.

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