Hémangiomes congénitaux et autre tumeurs vasculaires infantiles rares

Congenital haemangiomas: a single-centre retrospective review

OBJECTIVE

Congenital haemangiomas (CHs) are rare, benign vascular tumours that are fully developed at birth. Three subtypes of CHs have been described based on clinical behaviour: rapidly involuting CHs (RICHs), non-involuting CHs (NICHs) and partially involuting CHs (PICHs). We explore in our study clinical, evolutionary and paraclinical characteristics of the three CH subtypes.

DESIGN

Children with CH attending our department of paediatric dermatology at Bordeaux University Hospital over a 13-year period were retrospectively included. Epidemiological, clinical and evolutionary data, photographs and imaging results were reviewed. All available tissue samples were histologically examined.

RESULTS

We included 57 patients: 22 with RICH, 22 with NICH and 13 with PICH. Males predominated (ratio 1.7); the most common CH location was on the limbs. RICH, NICH and PICH exhibited overlapping characteristics; all were single telangiectatic lesions with pale peripheral halos. At birth, NICHs were flat but RICHs and PICHs bulky. The median age at complete RICH involution was 12 months. One-third of CHs that appeared RICH-like at birth underwent incomplete involution to become PICHs. Heart failure and thrombocytopenia were rare complications. PICHs were frequently ulcerated. Pain was common for NICH and PICH. The imaging and histological data of the three CH subtypes were rather similar.

CONCLUSIONS

We describe the characteristics and evolution of the three CH subtypes using a case series. Certain overlapping features were apparent, reinforcing the hypothesis that RICH, NICH and PICH lie on the same pathological spectrum.

[Management of vascular anomalies in children]

Vascular anomalies, which are broadly identified as "angiomas", are rare entities and often unknown by the medical sphere. They are divided in two different categories which carry different prognosis and management: "vascular tumors" and "vascular malformations". Their precise identification is crucial and involves a good knowledge of the biological classification published by Mulliken and Glowacki and that has recently been updated by the International Society for the Study of Vascular Anomalies (ISSVA). Vascular tumors are benign, common, inborn or not and most of the time disappear with growth. Vascular malformations are always congenital and growth with the child. They can involve type of vessels solely or combined with others. A rheologic differentiation between slow and fast flow malformations is essential in order to characterize the seriousness of the lesion. Frequently, their diagnosis is clinically established and the anamnesis is conducted to answer three questions that are the time of revelation of the lesion ("When?"), its aspect ("What?") and its evolution ("How?"). Further investigations are usually not required but a non-invasive imaging technique such as Doppler ultrasound could be useful if a doubt exists. Surgery is not mandatory and must always be well thought because its consequences might be disastrous. It must be left to cosmetic sequelae of these lesions or to lesions that are totally resectable without causing any unacceptable deformation.

[Congenital hemangiomas: Report on ten patients]

INTRODUCTION

Congenital hemangiomas (CHs) are rare congenital vascular tumors seldom mentioned in the literature.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We carried out a retrospective study of all the cases of CH diagnosed and treated at Besançon Hospital from 2008 to 2014. The clinical, radiological, and histological data of each case were collected. All the children were seen again in 2014.

RESULTS

Ten CHs (seven rapidly involuting CHs, RICH and three non-involuting CH, NICH), predominantly full-term eutrophic male infants, were enrolled. RICHs were located on the head (n=2), trunk (n=2), and lower limbs (n=3), and NICHs were found on the hands. Diagnosis was clinical for all ten infants. All CHs resembled "tumor" congenital lesions: single, oval-shaped, nonpulsatile, and well delimited, and their size did not increase after birth. Two RICHs were warm, one had phlebolites, and two had draining veins at the first visit. The mean age of the RICH involution onset was 1.7 months and the mean time to complete involution was 10.4 months. One CH was classified as a PICH (partially involuting CH) due to partial regression, two RICHs were still in the involution process at the age of 10 and 15 months, and one regressed very quickly within 7 days. No complications were observed in the NICH. Two RICHs presented benign complications (ulcerations and bleeding). Two RICHs regressed entirely, and five regressed with sequelae: lipoatrophy (n=3), cutaneous excess (n=2), dysplastic veins (n=3), a pigmented area (n=1), and an anemic halo (n=2).

DISCUSSION

The small number of patients in our cohort, in spite of the length of the study, confirms the rarity of CH. The sex-ratio in favor of male infants and the location of NICH on the hands have not been reported. The most discriminating element remained the follow-up over 1 year. The initial clinical aspect of the NICH and the progression of one RICH into a NICH suggested possible overlapping forms between RICH and NICH. Some CHs, including one PICH, presented clinical and radiological criteria similar to those of vascular malformations (warm lesion, dysplastic veins, and echo-Doppler results in favor of vascular malformation). RICH regressed with sequelae in most cases.

CONCLUSION

This study reveals a polymorphous clinical presentation of CH and provides a thorough description of their progression. It underlines the existence of overlapping phenomena between RICH and NICH, and between CH and vascular malformations, thus suggesting a possible link between proliferation and malformation phenomena at the origin of these lesions.

Bleeding in congenital hemangiomas: crusting as a clinical predictive sign and usefulness of tranexamic acid

We present two case reports of CH in which severe bleeding episodes occurred during the first weeks of life and report the use of topical tranexamic acid to control bleeding in this setting. Patient 1 was a full-term female infant who presented at birth with a large 7- by 6-cm CH of the forehead showing a few millimeter-sized crusts. No active treatment except close follow-up was advised. At 10 weeks of age, the size of the lesion having spontaneously decreased more than 50%, she presented with severe bleeding from a small crusted area. The bleeding was controlled using topical tranexamic acid, and except for a few minor, easily controlled bleeding episodes in the following weeks, the lesion regressed more than 80%. Patient 2 was a full-term male infant seen at 1 day of life for a 14- by 10-cm CH of the right knee with a few small, dark, superficial crusts. At 3 weeks of age, he was hospitalized after severe bleeding from one of the crusted areas, with a drop in hemoglobin from 131 to 114 g/L. Bleeding was controlled using topical tranexamic acid, and compressive dressing. Because the lesion was clinically a rapidly involuting CH, there was no need for embolization or surgery. The presence of crusting in CH, even in the absence of frank ulceration, is an ominous sign and can precede serious bleeding. Tranexamic acid, an antifibrinolytic agent that helps stabilize the clot, has proved useful topically in controlling bleeding in CH.

[Diagnosis and management of vascular anomalies]

Vascular anomalies are a complex pathological group. They are especially difficult to study because of confusion in the terminology used. The classification developed by the International Society for the Study of Vascular Anomalies (ISSVA) in 1996 allows using a common scientific language. There are two groups of lesions: vascular tumor and vascular malformation. The management of these anomalies is difficult and must involve an interdisciplinary approach including specialists in plastic surgery, radiology, pediatry and dermatology. We propose a simplified approach for the management of these pathologies. This approach is coming from the experience of Marseille (France) multidisciplinary team.

[Classification of superficial vascular anomalies]

All superficial vascular abnormalities are not angiomas even though this term continues - incorrectly - to be used. Because the suffix "oma" implies a tumor, it is necessary to differentiate true vascular tumors, such as infantile hemangioma, from vascular malformations. From a hemodynamic perspective, there are two types of vascular malformations: slow- and fast-flow. In addition to the functioning of the impaired or severely damaged vessels, we discuss slow-flow capillary, venous, or lymphatic malformations and rapid flow arterial and arteriovenous malformations. All combinations are possible. There are several types of childhood vascular tumors with different courses and different prognoses. Infantile hemangioma is by far the most frequent (8 to 10 children/100). The diverse other vascular tumors in children are sufficiently rare that they are described as orphan diseases. Since the end of the last century, a simple endothelial marker, GLUT-1, is available. This immunophenotype is present in all cases of infantile hemangioma at every stage and is negative in other tumors. Kasabach-Merritt syndrome and its accompanying severe thrombocytopenia never complicate childhood hemangioma, contrary to what has been said for nearly 60 years. When it is present, the tumor is either a tufted angioma or kaposiform hemangioendothelioma, and the GLUT1 marker can distinguish them from infantile hemangioma if the histologic diagnosis is uncertain (GLUT 1 is negative in both the latter cases). There are a wide variety of rare vascular tumors; many of them are benign, isolated, or limited; some are locally aggressive and recur after excision. A small number are low-grade malignant lesions with a risk of multivessel expansion, metastasis, and sometimes a fatal outcome. Major progress has been made in the imaging of these vascular abnormalities. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in particular has revolutionized the non-invasive and especially the non-irradiating exploration of many of them. It provides information about the extent of the lesion and allows an etiological approach in many cases. Moreover, neuroradiologic evaluation of vascular cerebromeningeal lesions benefits not only from the now-standard diagnostic neurologic imaging methods of CT and MRI, but also from various advances in the techniques of functional imaging. Accordingly, for Sturge-Weber syndrome, functional imaging provides hope for an early prognosis, in particular cognitive, when these techniques are more widely used (SPECT, PET, especially the new advanced sequences of perfusion in MRI-DTI). Chronic - indeed lifelong - coagulation abnormalities, with phases of aggravation, occur in approximately half of the patients with venous malformations of the trunk and limbs, and more rarely in neck and face sites. This is not without consequences, but also not without therapeutic solutions: screening for it is therefore essential (measurement of dimer and fibrinogen levels). The discovery of gene mutations at the origin of some familial vascular malformations provides complementary data for the current classification of vascular abnormalities. It suggests that targeted therapy may be possible but probably not for quite a bit longer.

[Cervical congenital hemangioma: diagnosis and management difficulties]

Rapidly involuting congenital haemangioma (RICH) is a rare vascular tumour whose antenatal diagnosis is difficult. During ultrasound examination at 32nd weeks' gestation, a voluminous heterogeneous cephalic lesion was discovered that could be a haemangioma or a teratoma. A caesarean delivery was performed. The tumour was removed directly after birth. The pathology examination concluded on a RICH. Antenatal, prepartum and postnatal management are not consensual and must consider the lesion size.

Kaposiform hemangioendothelioma

Kaposiform hemangioendothelioma (KHE) is a rare, locally aggressive vascular neoplasm that mainly occurs during childhood. It generally originates on the skin, usually affecting deeper tissue by infiltrative growth. It appears as one or multiple masses, and in most cases is associated to consumptive coagulopathy (Kasabach-Merritt syndrome), and lymphangiomatosis. Although visceral involvement is very uncommon, several cases with bone, retroperitoneal, or mediastinal involvement have been described. These tumors tend to be locally invasive, but are not known to produce distant metastases. The development of KHE in adolescents or in adults is very rare, but cases have also been described. Several factors are associated with the outcome of patients with KHE: accessibility to surgical excision, location (cutaneous versus visceral), size of tumoral mass, clinical response to interferon and glucocorticoids, and the absence of lymphangiomatosis and Kasabach-Merritt syndrome, may result in partial remissions. On the other hand, bulk visceral masses lead to a 40-50% mortality rate, mainly due to progressive failure of the infiltrated organ(s), in spite of interferon, glucocorticoids, and combined chemotherapy. In conclusion, the onset of a consumptive coagulopathy following the presence of a vascular tumor, in children as well as in older patients, should spark suspicion of KHE, among other entities.

[Vascular anomalies of the children's hand]

Vascular anomalies are common on the hand of children. There are two types of vascular anomalies: the vascular tumours and the vascular malformations. The most frequent vascular tumour is infantile haemangioma. The vascular malformations could be predominantly venous, lymphatic, capillary or arteriovenous. Combined vascular malformations, often syndromic, must be searched for. Diagnosis is sometimes difficult. It is based on clinical history, aspect, evolution and radiological examinations (color-Doppler ultrasound and MRI). Treatment is often a combination of medical and surgical approaches performed by a multidisciplinary team.