Growth Characteristics of Infantile Hemangiomas: Implications for Management

Infantile hemangiomas often are inapparent at birth and have a period of rapid growth during early infancy followed by gradual involution. More precise information on growth could help predict short-term outcomes and make decisions about when referral or intervention, if needed, should be initiated. The objective of this study was to describe growth characteristics of infantile hemangioma and compare growth with infantile hemangioma referral patterns.

A prospective cohort study involving 7 tertiary care pediatric dermatology practices was conducted. Growth data were available for a subset of 526 infantile hemangiomas in 433 patients from a cohort study of 1096 children. Inclusion criteria were age younger than 18 months at time of enrollment and presence of at least 1 infantile hemangioma. Growth stage and rate were compared with clinical characteristics and timing of referrals.