[Hemangioma of the eyelids and orbit in children: therapeutic follow-up].

PURPOSE

To evaluate the different therapeutic solutions for the management of periorbital hemangioma of infancy and childhood.

MATERIAL

and methods: A retrospective study conducted between 2000 and 2006, including nine children (five girls and four boys), aged from 1 month to 9 years old. All children underwent a complete clinical evaluation, orbital ultrasonography, computerized tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging scans. The different histopathological forms and the different management options were analyzed: surgical excision, intralesional steroid injection, and oral steroids.

RESULTS

Surgery was performed in three cases and the results are discussed. Intralesional corticosteroid injections are effective and lead to complete reduction of tumoral volume and to the disappearance of the initial symptoms. With oral steroids, regression of the tumor was noted, followed by regrowth of the hemangioma at reduction or termination of therapy; complementary therapy such as surgery or intratumoral corticoid injection was often needed.

CONCLUSION

It therefore seems necessary to establish therapeutic processes adapted to the age of the child, the tumoral histology, the location of the tumor, as well as the clinical and functional impact, in order to offer the patient the best chances of healing, taking into account that surgery and intralesional corticotherapy remain the methods of choice in the treatment of periorbital hemangioma in infancy and childhood.