Effective treatment for infantile hemangioma with long-pulsed dye laser with oral propranolol medication: a preliminary report.

PURPOSE

To investigate the efficacy of our treatment of infantile hemangioma (IH)s retrospectively presenting as disfiguring or functionally threatening lesions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

25 infants with IH treated with long-pulsed dye laser or laser with or without propranolol. Tumor fading after treatment was evaluated using both color and size rating scales, before, during and after treatment.

RESULTS

6 infants were treated by laser, 11, oral propranolol and 8 using both treatments. Each treatment was effective for most IH with a median treatment duration of 7.7 months for laser, and 13.3 months for the latter two. Combination therapy was the most effective in both color-fading and size reduction by the 3rd month. Laser alone was most effective in color-fading with almost complete disappearance of most tumors. Oral propranolol to the three site-specific IHs was effective with disappearance of tumors. There were no apparent side effects related to laser treatment, but one infant suffered from allergy and another from bronchial asthma due to propranolol medication.

CONCLUSIONS

Most IHs discolored and regressed considerably with these treatments, including complete disappearance of the three functionally threatening lesions. This combined approach is quite useful for accelerating tumor regression.