Failure-to-thrive in an infant following injection of capillary hemangioma with triamcinolone acetonide

Intralesional injection of triamcinolone acetonide for cavernous hemangiomas: A case report

RATIONALE

Cavernous hemangiomas referred to as venous malformations (VMs), are not true vascular tumors. The treatment of cavernous hemangiomas is controversial.

PATIENT CONCERNS

A five-year-old girl with a cavernous hemangioma on her right buttock had undergone surgery but recurred 1 month after the operation.

DIAGNOSES

Cavernous hemangioma was diagnosed on the basis of physical examination, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and postoperative pathologic examination.

INTERVENTIONS

We treated her with intralesional injection of triamcinolone acetonide (TCA) for 8 times.

OUTCOMES

She was cured and had no recurrence during the 3-month follow-up.

LESSONS

This prompts that TCA may provide a more effective and safer choice for the treatment of cavernous hemangiomas.

Failure to thrive in infants with complicated facial hemangiomas

We have observed that some children with facial hemangiomas of infancy have feeding difficulties coincident with periods of failure to thrive. We evaluated the early oral sensory and feeding experiences of four children with facial hemangiomas through medical record review and parental surveys to investigate their contribution to the patients' failure to thrive. All children with feeding irregularities experienced some degree of oral sensory impairment and required early oral sensory intervention, but there were varying reports of difficulty or delay in the development of oral feeding. The nature of these difficulties is discussed. Infants with complicated facial hemangiomas with perioral and airway involvement may be at higher risk for feeding and oral sensory problems. We recommend close monitoring for failure to thrive and early evaluation by speech or occupational therapists.