EXACTLY WHAT IS A Hemangioma?
What is a Hemangioma? Hemangioma is a benign tumor formed by the unusual growth and accumulation of blood vessels. The cause of hemangioma is unknown. Hemangioma usually appears on the skin, especially on the head, face and neck. It may form in the top skin layers (capillary) or deeper in your skin (cavernous). It may show up on the internal organs like liver organ also, vertebrae and spine. The word hemangioma comes from Greek words meaning “blood-vessel-tumor”.
These lesions are the most common benign tumors in children. These lesions may be present at delivery as delivery marks having faint reddened areas or develop after delivery in the early months. These tumors develop quickly for approximately a year Usually. Then there is a resting phase with little change in appearance for another twelve months. Then the involution phase begins and causes the lesions to decrease in size and disappear in a decade. In rare cases it could persist beyond a decade.
Earlier the word hemangioma was used to denote a variety of vascular lesions of infancy and child years. Mulliken JB. and Glowacki J. categorized these conditions into hemangiomas and vascular malformations. Hemangiomas have a proliferating phase seen as a endothelial hyperplasia which causes rapid growth of tumor. Then there is an involution phase with histological fibrosis and fats deposition accompanied by a regression stage. Under the microscope, these lesions appear as aggregates of packed capillaries filled with blood having endothelial lining closely. Vascular malformations are seen at birth plus they …