Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization plus oral glucocorticoid in the treatment of tufted angioma in children

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the safety and efficacy of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization plus oral glucocorticoid in the treatment of tufted angioma in children. Methods Fifteen patients with tufted angioma were recruited from January 2014 to August 2016. Twelve of them underwent arterial embolization with oral prednisone. Their clinical symptoms, therapeutic efficacies and postoperative complications were evaluated. Therapeutic outcomes were divided into cure, basic cure, remission and invalidness. Results Six boys and 6 girls with an average age of 1.8±3.1 years received embolization chemotherapy 17 times with an average of 1.41 times/case. The number of lesion was single (n=11) and double (n=1). The lesions were located in lower extremity (n=4), head & neck (n=4), upper extremity (n=2) and chest & back (n=2). The sizes of lesions were 3 cm×3 cm~10 cm×15 cm. The lesions were manifested as dark red or purple patches, multiple nodules and slightly tough on surface; there were higher skin temperature (n=12, 100%), tenderness (n=8, 66.7%), hypertrichosis and hyperhidrosis of lesion (n=5, 41.7%) and itching discomfort (n=3, 25%). The follow-up period was 6 to 36 months. The eventual outcomes were cure (n=1, 8.3%), basic cure (n=8, 66.7%) and alleviation (n=3, 25%). And the effective rate was 100%.Redness with pain of 12 cases disappeared after 1-2 weeks. Cushing’s syndrome was found in 9 cases (75%). Conclusions Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization plus oral glucocorticoid treatment of tufted angioma may relieve clinical symptoms, enable tumor shrinkage, reduce surface temperature of tumor and lessen the pain of patients. Key words: Hemangioma; Interventional therapy; Glucocorticoid