Clinical Characteristics of Infantile Hemangioma: a Prospective Study

Infantile hemangioma (IH) is the most common benign tumor of infancy with an estimated prevalence of 4%-5%. IHs may be presented in any part of body including the visceral organs, but are preferentially located on the face, head and neck area. IHs exhibit a characteristic life cycle consisting of a rapid proliferating phase within the first year of life followed by a slowly involuted phase lasting for up to five years. Although most resolve over time without major sequelae, a significant subset can result in severe complications including disfiguring and ulceration, some even could impair organ functions and threaten patients' life. Risk factors of IHs have been identified including multiple gestation, low birth weight, prematurity, white race, eclampsia and placental abnormalities. However, the exact occurrence, clinical features and risk factors of IHs is still unknown in Chinese patients because of the lack of large scale of prospective studies. In addition, characteristics of ulceration of IHs and infantile hepatic hemangiomas (IHHs) are also not well documented. Therefore, it's important to perform this prospective study to determine the clinical features of Chinese patients with IHs, and this study will also make contributions to the prevents, diagnoses and treatments of IHs.