[Treatment Review] Do you know about hemangiomas? From the onset of pediatric hemangiomas to complete recovery.

Hello :)

 

For convenience, I'll write in informal language. I'll try to quickly convey the information and revive the feelings from that moment!

 

First, there are no progress photos. Why? Did you know I was going to write about the topic of hemangiomas? However, I remember the process vividly. Five years ago, when I was asked by the daycare to send photos of my child when he was young and family pictures, I took the opportunity to browse through my child's photos. Just then, I happened to see a photo taken before treatment that clearly showed the hemangioma on the child's skin!

 

 

I felt a surge of emotion 🥺, as if the feelings from that moment were coming back. Can you see the colorful things beneath my child's face, smiling so beautifully?

 

It may be difficult to tell from the photo, but not only is it colorful, but the skin is also swollen and raised.

 

 

Hemangioma refers to a benign tumor of endothelial cells that line blood vessels, characterized by involution during infancy. It usually appears within the first few weeks of life and resolves before the age of 10. This is the most common tumor in infancy. Originally, the term hemangioma was used to describe all vascular tumors that appeared either at birth or later in life, regardless of their timing of development. Mulliken et al. classified these conditions into two families.

 

One is a tumor that naturally shrinks inward and eventually disappears, a self-regressing lesion. The other appears at birth due to enlargement or abnormal vascular malformation and remains permanently. The importance of this difference lies in enabling the distinction between lesions that resolve when young and those that are permanent. Examples of permanent malformations include port-wine stain, a capillary malformation with a dark red color, and venous malformations, which are abnormally swollen venous clusters.

 

Hemangiomas are connected to the circulatory system and filled with blood, with their appearance varying depending on their location. If they exist on the surface of the skin, they resemble ripe strawberries and are sometimes called "strawberry hemangiomas." However, when they are located beneath the skin, they appear as bluish swelling. Occasionally, hemangiomas grow in internal organs such as the liver or larynx. In most cases, hemangiomas disappear over time. Some develop during pregnancy, but the most common ones are not congenital; they appear within a few weeks after birth. Hemangiomas are often misdiagnosed initially as wounds or bruises. Source: Encyclopedia of Life Sciences

 

In the case of the child, a strawberry hemangioma suddenly appeared around 100 days, initially appearing blurry and then the skin began to swell. At that moment, we were literally overwhelmed. Feeling confused, we went to the pediatrician we usually visit. According to the doctor at that time, it might disappear as the child grows, but we should monitor the situation until around age 10.

 

The conclusion is that we need to observe over time...

 

However, at some point, people's gaze started to focus on my child. As it got hotter and the clothes became shorter, I began going out for walks with my child... Instead, people who knew me didn't ask anything. The gazes and questions from strangers, whom I had never even seen before in my life...

 

Busybodies!!

 

"Why is your child's arm like that?"

Why is his skin like this?

When did I see you that you speak casually?

Are you hurt? How did it happen?

 

The child who was very shy would cry and cling even more to me, trying to hide in my arms, as unfamiliar people's gazes and attention focused on him, even while he was in the baby carrier.

 

Suddenly, I thought that I am currently experiencing stress like this, and when my child grows a bit older and starts going to daycare and becomes interested in appearance, they might suffer even greater emotional wounds than I do now. Then, I visited another pediatric clinic for a health checkup for infants and young children, and the doctor recommended that since they now treat children from a young age, I should consider trying treatment.

 

So, when my child was around 3 years old, I visited Sinchon Severance Hospital. At that time, I lived in Incheon and couldn't drive, so I would seat the child in a hip seat and commute between home and the hospital by subway and bus. On days when I visited the hospital like that, I was always overwhelmed with body aches and back pain, making it impossible to do anything else.

 

Because I was too young to take medication, the doctor who treated me at the time suggested using a topical ointment.

I don't remember the name of the prescribed medication, but it was eye drops used to lower intraocular pressure. The child's hemangioma is an abnormal proliferation (swelling) of blood vessels outside the skin, and the goal was to reduce the pressure in the blood vessels.

 

I visited the hospital once every two weeks for a year. Afterwards, I moved and transferred my medical records to Bundang Seoul National University Hospital.

 

As I transferred hospitals for treatment, I realized that my child's hemangioma was nothing to worry about. Children with their entire face covered in hemangiomas, children with an entire leg affected, and even those with hemangiomas around the eyes or mouth sometimes had to undergo laser treatment without anesthesia because anesthesia was not an option. While waiting, the children’s cries never stopped.

 

When submitting the medical records at the reception and on the first day of treatment, they said that they had done everything they could with the medication and now laser treatment was necessary. They immediately administered anesthesia and started laser treatment after 20 to 30 minutes. Even with anesthesia, it must have been painful and how scary it must have been. They covered the eyes with a bandage so I couldn't see, and I had to endure the treatment time (less than a minute, but from the child's perspective, it probably felt like an hour) just with the warmth of my mom's hand holding tightly. My child was in pain, scared, and cried a lot. From the second treatment onward, they started crying as soon as the anesthesia was applied. Once every four weeks. After a total of five laser treatments (over five months), the doctor told us we could stop now and thanked us for our efforts so far.

 

 

I felt like I had completed a really big task at the time.

 

I started attending daycare when I was four years old, and even then, the teachers would ask cautiously. I remember that after the treatment was completed and the hemangioma almost disappeared, the daycare teachers also celebrated with us.

 

If you look closely, it remains faintly visible, but unless you look inside, it is not noticeable enough to recognize. The texture is subtly different, but if you're not thinking about it, no one will know.

 

It's safe to say it's a complete recovery. I'm so moved!

 

And now, after three years, the child's arm is very clean. If anyone has seen a child's hemangioma, please seek treatment as early as possible.

 

There is no reason to wait until around age 10. When children start to become interested in their appearance, they may get hurt either by themselves or by someone else.

 

I hope this was helpful, and I will end here. Have a great weekend 🩶