Hemangioma Treatment Question

Anonymous writes: hello! our little princess also has a 4cm hemangioma located at her left deltoid area.. i wonder if your child underwent any treatment and if YES, kindly enumerate them..so we could have a better option on which treatment modality we are to take after considering all option offered by her physician..hoping for your reply..

We actually didn't do any "treatment". Our local pediatrician told us to wait it out. Once we decided that probably wasn't the correct advice since she was in so much pain for over 2 months, I started doing extensive research on the Internet and found a pediatric plastic surgeon who specialized in vascular anomalies in a neighboring state a made an appointment. The quickest appointment they had was 3 weeks away.

Unbelievably, during that three week period we noticed that the ulceration was starting to heal and by the time we got to our appointment, part of the scab was even beginning to come off! He said that if he had seen us sooner there would have been things they could have done for the pain, but since it was starting to heal, we should be OK to wait it out. He did tell us to watch for another growth phase between 9-12 months and there was a chance it would ulcerate again.

Although it did appear to grow a little bit more from 9-12 months, it did not ulcerate again (praise God!) so the doctor said they didn't need to see us again until she was 2 1/2, at which time they would assess and schedule a scar revision surgery around age 3.

One important thing I should ask, Anonymous, is if your daughter's H is ulcerated. If not, most doctors do agree to leave the H alone if it is not in an area that affects breathing, vision, or eating. If the H leaves a cosmetic defect once it involutes, a revision surgery can be done around age 3 like my daughter will have.

Hope I answered some of your questions!