A cause of concern for many parents is the appearance of reddish spots on their baby's skin that usually appear in the first weeks of life: they are called angiomas or hemangiomas. They occur when a group of blood vessels grow abnormally.
It is a relatively common benign tumor in childhood, especially in children under one year of age. The Spanish Association of Pediatrics indicates that they affect almost 5% of children, their appearance being more likely in girls, in premature babies or with low birth weight. They are not hereditary.
Rosa Pavo and Soledad Montoro, primary care pediatricians and directors of the podcast "Miel y Limón, pediatras al micro", explain that "hemangiomas, as a general rule, are not seen at birth but usually appear in the first few weeks or months of life. At first they usually appear as a small, pink spot that increases rapidly in size up to 5 months.
From then until 12 months, growth slows down, stabilizing. Finally, the regression begins, slowly, until finally, most of them disappear spontaneously. The AEP indicates that the duration of this process usually lasts between 5 and 10 years. It may disappear without a trace, but in some cases some mark remains.
There are different types of infantile hemangiomas. One of the AEP classifications is made based on the depth of the affected vessels. We can find three types:
To diagnose them it will not be necessary to carry out any diagnostic test. In the presence of a stain, it is necessary to go to the pediatrician, who will assess it taking into account its appearance and will carry out a follow-up. In special cases, imaging tests may be done.
They can appear anywhere on the body, but the most common places are the face, scalp, chest, or back. Pediatricians Rosa and Soledad add that most hemangiomas do not require treatment, only in certain cases which, as the AEP points out, are basically the following:
In these cases, the AEP indicates that the treatment will consist of taking a medication. “The drug of choice is oral propranolol. In selected cases, small and superficial lesions, topical timolol may be indicated. The laser may be an option to treat the sequelae”.
Normally they do not hurt or cause discomfort to the child, but it is necessary to go to the specialist to follow up and assess it.
