Vascular tumors: when to observe, treat or send to the surgeon

Abstract

Infantile hemangiomas (IH) are the most frequent tu­mors of vascular origin. The differential diagnosis with other vas­cu­lar anomalies is difficult to establish and an ap­pro­priate therapeutic management is usually delayed by the under­es­ti­ma­tion of the importance of the lesion. Pro­ble­ma­tic types of hemangiomas due to location, size and fast proliferation can determine important functional and esthe­tic sequelae. Based on the data collected by serial cli­ni­cal observation and imaging, processed by a computer-assisted diagnosis system (CAD), we studied the evolution of different types of vascular tumors, divided into three groups, according to the treatment method implemented. The database consists of 94 patients. The results show the im­por­tance of serial clinical evaluation over a long period and of the early implementation of the treatment for the dan­ge­rous hemangiomas. A multi­dis­ci­pli­na­ry medical team is essential for the best outcome of the vas­cu­lar tumor pathology.