Steroids in Complicated Hemangioma

Dear Editor, Haemangiomas are immature rests of vasofomative tissue that demonstrate angioblastic proliferation and regression, representing the most common vascular tumor of the childhood. 1 Selecting the type of steroid, the course of administratio n, and the dose schedules will be guided by clinical experience. 2 Intralesional injection of steroid is an effective treatment for hemangioma of the head and neck, 3 with injection pressure exceeding the systemic arterial pressure routinely occur during intralesional injections steroid into capillary hemangiomas. 4 In this study, 30 patients with complicated hemangioma of different age groups were enrolled. The cases were treated with local injection of 4 mg of triamcinolone diluted in 5 ml of normal saline in multiple sessions in a 2 week interval. The patients' age was from 3 months to 6 years, 20 being female and 10 male. The procedure was repeated every 2 weeks for 6-8 sessions depending on the severity of case, measuring the size of the lesion before each session to record its regression. The most common age group suffering from hemangioma was that of females (20 patients). The age presentation to clinic was for 10 patients 6 years old it was 25%. Three patients suffered from the complication of steroid treatment. The age group of our patients was in accordance with what Winter et al. found that 65.3% of the cases were infants and children. 3 Our female to male ratio was 2:1. Garzon reported 3 times more in females. 1 The site of lesion agrees with Mullkin and Glowacki study finding that 60% of hemangiomas were in the head and neck area, 25% in the trunk, and 15% in the extremities. 5 The majority of our cases were small in size, being in accordance with Garzon’s findings. 6