Neurodevelopmental Effects of Propranolol Treatment During Infancy in Infantile Hemangioma Patients.

INTRODUCTION AND AIM

Propranolol is an effective treatment option for infantile hemangiomas, but there is still insufficient information about neurodevelopmental side effects of propranolol. In our study, the neurodevelopmental levels of infantile hemangioma patients receiving propranolol treatment were examined using the Bayley-III test.

METHOD

In our single-center, cross-sectional study, patients were recruited between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2023. In total, 40 children (n1) diagnosed with hemangioma who received propranolol treatment and 31 children (n2) who were only under observation were included. A control group of 31 healthy children (n3) matched for age and gender was also included. The demographic, clinical, perinatal, and postnatal characteristics of the total 102 children were recorded from their medical records. Neurodevelopmental levels were assessed with the Bayley-III test. The significance level was set at ( < 0.05).

RESULTS

The Bayley-III test composite and percentile scores were used to evaluate the neurodevelopmental levels. Significant differences in motor functions were found between the treated and untreated groups compared to the healthy control group ( = 0.006 and = 0.006). However, no significant differences were found in cognitive, language, and social-emotional skills. Cognitive, language, and motor functions were associated with maternal education level, and additionally, cognitive functions were also associated with paternal education level.

CONCLUSIONS

Propranolol has a relatively safer side effect profile, and therefore, it has been described as a safe agent. In our study, no significant effect of propranolol on neurodevelopment was observed. The difference in motor skills shown was mainly between the healthy control group (n3) and the treated and untreated group (n1 and n2), which led to the conclusion that the relevant difference could be due to factors other than propranolol itself.