Haemangioma

Haemangiomas are quite common lesions, especially in infancy and childhood. The most common site is the skin of the face.

A hemangioma is a common vascular birthmark, made of extra blood vessels in the skin.

Hemangiomas may occur anywhere on the body. Some children may have more than one. There are three main types:

Superficial (on the surface of the skin) : These look flat at first, and then become bright red with a raised, uneven surface.

Deep (under the skin) : These appear as a bluish-purple swelling with a smooth surface.

Mixed : These hemangiomas have both superficial and deep components.

These are the most common type.

Clinical features

They may be present at birth or appear in early childhood.
Strawberry birthmarks and „port-wine mark‟ are some good examples.
The common sites are the skin, subcutaneous tissue and mucous membranes of oral cavity and lips.
Less common sites are internal visceral organs like liver, spleen and kidneys,

Well-defined
But unencapsulated lobules.
These lobules are composed of capillary-sized, thin-walled, blood-filled vessels. These vessels are lined by single layer of plump endothelial cells surrounded by a layer of pericytes.
The vessels are separated by some connective tissue stroma

Many of the capillary haemangiomas regress spontaneously within a few years.

Are single or multiple, discrete or diffuse, red to blue, soft and spongy masses. They are often 1 to 2 cm in diameter.
They are most common in the skin (especially of the face and neck); other sites are mucosa of the oral cavity, stomach and small intestine, and internal visceral organs like the liver and spleen.

Are composed of thin-walled cavernous vascular spaces, filled partly or completely with blood.
The vascular spaces are lined by flattened endothelial cells.
Separated by scanty connective tissue stroma

Granuloma pyogenicum is also referred to as haemangioma of granulation tissue type.
True to its name, it appears as exophytic, red granulation tissue just like a nodule, commonly on the skin and mucosa of gingiva or oral cavity.
Pregnancy tumour or granuloma gravidarum is a variant occurring on the gingiva during pregnancy and regresses after delivery.
Granuloma pyogenicum often develops following trauma and is usually 1 to 2 cm in diameter.

Proliferating capillaries similar to capillary haemangioma but the capillaries are separated by abundant oedema and inflammatory infiltrate, thus resembling inflammatory granulation tissue

The skin “breaks down” and an open sore forms.

It gets infected (especially if it is in the diaper area).

It causes problems with any of the following: