Dermatology >>>> Hemangioma - signs and causes

Hemangioma - signs and causes.

Hemangioma is a tissue neoplasm that is not malignant, but tends to grow. Hemangioma is detected in the first weeks or months of a baby's life and immediately begins to grow. From a small red dot on the skin in a few months, the hemangioma is able to increase the occupied area to the size of the palm.

Hemangioma is a vascular nevus (vascular tumor), a mole formed by abnormally enlarged blood vessels. The reasons for this growth have not been thoroughly studied, there are only suggestions that the cause of hemangioma may be:

hereditary predisposition to spontaneous vascular growth,
taking vasodilating drugs during pregnancy,
taking vasodilators for newborns,
manipulations that cause a vasodilating effect (massage or physiotherapy in a newborn, routine vaccination).

In everyday life, hemangiomas are called birthmarks, but from the point of view of dermatology, hemangiomas are just one of the varieties of birthmarks.

The life cycle of hemangioma development is unpredictable:

a vascular tumor can independently stop its growth and go to the resorption phase, followed by complete disappearance (regressing),
hemangioma can stop its growth for a long period (years) and resume it spontaneously (freezes),
a vascular nevus can grow non-stop and occupy significant areas in tissues both in width and depth (progressing).

Hemangioma is not a superficial formation (unlike an ordinary mole) - the vascular bundle grows in different directions and into the thickness of the tissues, including, which creates troubles for the patient, since it turns out to be a convex formation that rises above the surface, for example, of the skin. Hemangiomas appear in various tissues and organs, may be invisible, but often cause aesthetic problems when located on the surface of the skin.

Hemangioma is dangerous because it is still a vascular bundle that is capable of bleeding. It is bleeding that sometimes draws the doctor's attention to hemangiomas of internal organs, which can provoke organ dysfunction and cause poor health. Hemangiomas are able to grow deeply into organs, not only into soft tissues, but also into the structures of the spinal column, creating the prerequisites for the destruction of organs and tissues and disability of a person.

Diagnosis of hemangiomas of internal organs is carried out by computed or magnetic resonance imaging, angiography of the hemangioma vessels. Diagnosis of superficial hemangiomas is carried out visually and with the help of computed tomography, which makes it possible to consider the depth of the vascular bundle.

How to distinguish hemangioma from other skin lesions? Most often, its color pays attention to a hemangioma - a bright color of all shades of red, burgundy, red-brown or red-blue. Hemangioma appears as a clearly limited spot (dot), as it grows, it can turn from a flat state to a slightly convex one. A characteristic sign of a hemangioma - when pressed on its surface, it turns pale (to a whitish-pink color) due to the outflow of blood from the vessels that form it.

It is recommended to remove a hemangioma without waiting for its extensive growth, since the overgrown bundle of blood vessels after removal will leave significant scars on the skin and tissues, and will also complicate large-scale removal, as it is firmly woven into the internal structures of the body.