How are hemangiomas treated?

Hemangiomas can be treated with intralesional steroids, but in lesions involving the facial area, this treatment should be avoided because there have been reports of steroid suspension embolism of the central nervous system (CNS) and retinal vessels. In these cases, systemic steroids should be utilized. Recombinant interferon-a and porpranolol have also been used to treat infantile hemangiomas that have not responded to corticosteroid therapy. Rarely, large, rapidly growing hemangiomas have been associated with platelet trapping and acute thrombocytopenia.

Fledelius HC, Illum N, Jensen H, Prause JU: Interferon-alfa treatment of facial infantile hemangiomas: with emphasis on the sightthreatening varieties. A clinical series, Acta Ophthalmol Scand 79:370–373, 2001.