Strawberry Hemangioma

Definition

Strawberry hemangioma is a raised bright red spot, often small, usually soft and compressible, with well-defined borders. It gets its name from the fruit. It occurs most commonly on the face, scalp, chest or back. It may be present at birth but more often appears during the first one or two months of life.

Strawberry hemangiomas occur in 1% to 3% of infants. In rare cases, they interfere with vital organs or are associated with life-threatening complications. Almost all strawberry hemangiomas go away by themselves by the time a kid is about 9 years old. Most children with hemangiomas have only one. Many have a few. Rarely, children may have many, both on the skin and in the internal organs. These vary in size from a few millimeters across to many centimeters. There is a sharp line between the Strawberry hemangioma and normal skin. These usually resolve with time.

Causes of strawberry hemangioma

1. The cause of Strawberry hemangioma is unknown.
2. These usually are not at birth time and develop on the skin after birth. Usually these are harmless and resolves easily.
3. The color results from the extensive development of blood vessels at the site. The more blood in vessels, redder is the skin. Normal skin goes pale when we are cold i.e. blood vessels constrict and goes bright red when we blush i.e. blood vessels dilate.

Symptoms of strawberry hemangioma

Symptoms of strawberry hemangioma include following:

• Strawberry hemangiomas or strawberry mark or nevus vascularis or capillary hemangioma may appear anywhere on the body, but are most common on the face, scalp, back, or chest.
• These appear as Skin markings that develop before or shortly after birth.
• These may also appear as Skin markings that look like blood vessels.
• They may be absent at birth, and develop at several weeks.
• A massive, raised tumor with blood vessels.
• A red to reddish-purple, raised lesion on the skin.

A strawberry hemangioma may cause other symptoms if its location interferes with a vital organ. For example, a lesion on the neck could press down on the trachea and interfere with breathing, and a hemangioma near the eye or on the ear could limit vision or affect hearing.

Treatment of Strawberry Hemangioma

• Alpha Interferon: This therapy is limited to the most severe and potentially life threatening hemangiomas. It involves administering systemic medication via daily shots, usually into the leg, for several months.
• If the Strawberry hemangioma is infected and open it may be treated with a short course of antibiotics and daily wound cleansing.
• It's very important that a baby with a vascular birthmark be examined by a dermatologist as early as possible so that a correct diagnosis can be made and right treatment is given.
• The most widely used treatment for rapidly growing hemangiomas is corticosteroid medication. This is either injected into the hemangioma or given by mouth.
• Cryotherapy or Cryosurgery is a method of super-freezing tissue in order to destroy it. Liquid nitrogen is used to freeze the tissue and it destroys by itself.
• Laser surgery uses a laser light source to remove diseased tissues or treat bleeding blood vessels. The laser may also be used for cosmetic purposes, including removal of wrinkles, tattoos, or birthmarks.