Infantile hemangiomas with minimal or arrested growth: a retrospective case series.

OBJECTIVE: To describe clinical characteristics of infantile hemangiomas with minimal or arrested growth (IH-MAGs).

DESIGN: Retrospective case series.

SETTING: Ambulatory referral center at the University of California, San Francisco. Patients Infantile hemangiomas with minimal or arrested growth were defined as infantile hemangiomas with a proliferative component equaling less than 25% of their total surface area. The patients must have been at least age 2 months at the initial visit or on follow-up. Forty-two eligible patients with 47 IH-MAGs were included in the study.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Medical record review was performed for demographic and gestational information, lesion size, and clinical appearance, presence of proliferation, complications, coexisting classic infantile hemangiomas, and morphologic subtype classified as localized, segmental, or indeterminate.

RESULTS: Infantile hemangiomas with minimal or arrested growth manifested most commonly as fine or coarse telangiectatic patches. Proliferation was present in 30% (14 of 47 IH-MAGs), usually as small papules at the periphery of these hemangiomas. Sixty-eight percent (32 of 47 IH-MAGs) of them were present on the lower body. Seventeen patients had classic infantile hemangiomas at another body site. Comparison of distribution of sites of IH-MAGs showed a 26-fold (95% confidence interval, 1.9-351.5; P = .01) likelihood of having IH-MAGs on the lower body compared with classic infantile hemangiomas.

CONCLUSIONS: Infantile hemangiomas with minimal or arrested growth have a distinct clinical appearance and a unique predilection for the lower body. Recognition of IH-MAGs will help in more accurate diagnosis of vascular birthmarks of infancy, and the presence of IH-MAGs in an individual patient does not exclude the proliferative potential of other infantile hemangiomas that may be present.