Multiples

Hemoangiomas

Anybody know if this is more common in preemies?  Both my girls have them.  One has 3, the other has 5 and it seems more keep popping up.  The new ones are all tiny little dots, but she has a HUGE one at the base of her neck.  It's probably bigger than a quarter. I'm just curious about other kiddos w/ these.  I call them Kisses from Heaven.  Big Smile

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Re: Hemoangiomas

  • One of my babies has a strawberry hemangioma on the back of his leg--about the size of a half dollar. Not sure if they're more common in preemies or not. (My babies weren't/aren't preemies.)
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  • Both my girls have them.  Ava has two on her head, one on her shoulder, and one on her side.  The two on her head are very tiny.  The one on her shoulder looked like a grape tomato.  And the one on her side was a little larger.

    Lauryn has a giant one on her back.  Probably about the size of my palm.  And also a tiny one on her vagina.  The one on her back ulcerated (bled) so we had it checked out and even had laser treatment.

    They are more common in preemies and girls.  And they usually will grow in their first year and then start to slow down.  Blood stops going to the hemangioma and it will eventually lose the red color and start to become whiter or more like the color of the skin.

    We had the girls checked out by a dermatologist just for them to make sure nothing was wrong.  And they could keep an eye on them.  I have heard if they have more than 5 or 6, you shoul check to make sure there are no internal ones, as this is possible.  And Lauryn also saw the plastic surgeon, who is the one who did the laser.

    All of their hemangiomas look better now than the did a year ago.  Sorry this got long just wanted to give you as much info as I could.

     

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  • I don't know about preemies, but apparently more common in girls and twins: 

    (per wikipedia)

    Females are three to five times as likely to have hemangiomas as males. Hemangiomas are also more common in twin pregnancies. Approximately 80% are located on the face and neck

    DS2 has one on his cheek, DS1 has a very large one on his leg, and they both have small ones on the back of their head.  It's strange when people ask about the one one his cheek.  I don't even notice it.  It's just part of his cute little face.

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  • Not sure about the preemie part...

    My older twins are 5 years old, and my son has none but my daughter had 2 at birth.  She had one on the top of her head that has completely disappeared, and the other is on her side and it has gotten much smaller over time.  They're so common these days.... although it does seem they're more prevalent with girls, for some reason. 

    Mom to Boy/Girl twins born 8/2005 (IUI+inj.) 1st IVF= failed 11/2009 (IVF) Lost identical twins 3/10 (FET #1)Early m/c 6/2010 (FET #2) Twin Boys! Born 3/21/2011 @ 36w3d
  • One of my dd's has one on her back...it seems to have gotten a little smaller/less red since last year...the pedi checks it out at every visit...
  • Yes, they are more common in preemies and in girls.

    My DD had a huge one on the back of her neck (it kept growing and growing) and several others, including another large one on her forearm, that popped up.

    While living in NY, I took her to a top vascular birthmark specialist. After much consideration (and the fact that the neck one was beginning to ulcerate), we opted to have the one on her neck and forearm surgically removed when she was 7 mo. old. Even though these marks tend to disappear over long amounts of time, hers were growing very rapidly and 2 specialists recommended the removal (esp. of the one on her head/neck). He also lasered the other smaller ones during the surgery. She did fantastic and has only faint lines from the incisions.

    As an FYI, I learned that multiple hemangiomas (5+) on a body could indicate that there is/are internal hemangiomas growing. Our DD had an u/s that revealed a liver hemangioma--it was small, but we were fearful it would grow at the rapid rate that her externals had. They put her on a medication called propranalol (a lot of recent research revealed that, though a heart medication, it has the ability to shrink infant hemangiomas). She stayed on that for 3 months (3 xs a day). After those 3 months, her next u/s showed no liver hemangioma--the med worked and literally made it vanish!! I was scared doing this treatment but so glad we did.

    HTH

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  • Thank you for all the responses!  I had to check the girls out last night and found I made a mistake.  Twin A has 2.  They're dime-sized, raised, a little 'puffy.'  But they haven't grown at all.  Twin B started out with 3.  Then 2 teeny ones popped up, and another on the inside of her upper lip--doesn't affect eating or anything.  And she also has 2 teeny (seriously, looks like pin pricks) dots on her back.  So, while none of the originals have really grown, new ones have popped up.

    I found the site for the Vascular Birthmark Foundation and the only doctors they list in my area are Dermatologists.  I'm not interested in removing them.  They're pretty well hidden.  As long as they don't pick at them.  My pedi checks them each visit and doesn't seem concerned.  We have an appointment next week so I will ask.  Is there anything else I should be looking out for?  From what I've read, and from a friend w/ a daughter w/ a hemoangioma, pediatricians don't have a lot of knowledge on this and show little concern.  They were in a fantastic NICU for over a month and nothing was ever mentioned.  Just that they'd eventually go away. 

    Thanks again for everybody's comments!! 

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