Management of Upper Airway Infantile Hemangiomas: Experience of One Italian Multidisciplinary Center

Airway infantile hemangiomas (IHs) can represent a life-threatening condition since the first months of life. They may be isolated or associated to cutaneous IHs, and/or part of PHACES syndrome. Diagnosis, staging, and indication to treatment are not standardized yet despite the presence in the literature of previous case series and reviews. The diagnosis might be misleading, especially in the absence of cutaneous lesions. Airway endoscopy is the gold standard both for diagnosis and follow-up since it allows evaluation of precise localization and entity of obstruction and/or stricture. Proliferation of IH in the infant airways manifests frequently with stridor and treatment is required as soon as possible to prevent further complications. The first line of therapy is oral propranolol, but duration of treatment is not yet well-defined. All considered, we report the experience of our multidisciplinary center from 2009 to date, on 36 patients affected by airway IHs, and successfully treated with oral propranolol. Thus, the authors propose their experience for the management of airway IHs, specifically early diagnosis, when to perform endoscopy, how to interpret its findings, and when to stop the treatment.

Nd:YAG laser in association with pulsed dye laser for the treatment of PHACES syndrome

The acronym PHACES stands for posterior fossa malformations, hemangiomas, arterial anomalies (cardiovascular or cerebrovascular), coarctation of the aorta/cardiac defects, eye abnormalities, and sternal defects. The characteristic dermatological clinical manifestation of PHACES syndrome is a segmental and extensive hemangioma, usually on the face. A combined therapy with 1,064 nm Nd-YAG/595-nm pulsed dye laser was performed in a young 15-year-old patient with PHACES syndrome, who presented a hemangioma on the left side of the face, located in the periorbital region. A first session with Nd-YAG laser (2,5 mm spot size, fluence 100 J/cm2, pulse duration 7 ms) for the treatment of teleangectasias and subsequently, three treatment sessions with pulsed dye laser (12 mm spot size, fluence 7 J/cm2, pulse duration 0,5 ms, repetition rate 0,6 Hz), once every 2 months, were performed. No postoperative complications were recorded, except for transient purpura after the pulsed dye laser sessions. The vascular lesion had a decrease in size bigger than 75%, and these results was maintained 6 months after the last treatment. Combined therapy Nd- YAG/pulsed dye laser is an effective and noninvasive procedure for hemangiomas in patients with PHACES syndrome.

Ocular Manifestations in Neurocutaneous Syndromes with Emphasis on Neurofibromatosis – A Descriptive Observational Study

BACKGROUND Neurocutaneous syndromes (NCS) are a group of genetic disorders that produce a variety of developmental abnormalities of the eye. Ophthalmic manifestations usually appear early in life and progress with time. The study was conducted to know the prevalence of ocular manifestations in neurocutaneous syndromes with emphasis on neurofibromatosis. METHODS This study was conducted in ophthalmology department at a tertiary care hospital during a period of 2 years among 30 patients. All phakomatoses referred from other specialty departments for ophthalmological evaluation and cases diagnosed in ophthalmology department during routine evaluation were included in the study. RESULTS Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF-1) accounted for most of (66.67 %) the cases followed by Sturge Weber syndrome (SWS) (20 %). Majority (55 %) of NF-1 and 83.33 % of SWS and all patients of other phakomatoses were in the age group < 30 yrs. 55 % of NF-1 patients were males. 65 % of NF-1 patients gave positive family history. Lisch nodules, the most common ocular finding in NF-1 were present in 85 % of patients and of these 82 % were bilateral. Medullated nerve fibre was seen in 10 % of patients. Glaucoma was seen in 66.67 % of Sturge Weber syndrome patients. Conjunctional telangiectasia was seen in 16.67 % of Sturge Weber syndrome patients. Seizures and radiological features were seen in most patients with Sturge Weber syndrome. Megalocornea with normal intraocular pressure (IOP) was seen in both of our patients with posterior fossa malformations, haemangioma, arterial anomalies, coarctation of the aorta/cardiac defects, and eye abnormalities (PHACES syndrome). Eyelid coloboma, ectropion uvea, hyperchromia iridis & myopia was seen in one patient with PHACES syndrome. A case of tuberous sclerosis had many systemic features like calcified subependymal nodules, renal angiomyolipomas, skin features and the only ocular finding was hypopigmented iris spots. CONCLUSIONS Ophthalmologist has a role in early recognition of the neurocutaneous syndrome from specific ocular features (like Lisch nodule in NF-1), reducing ocular morbidity by timely treatment (of conditions like glaucoma) and prompt referral to concerned speciality for management of systemic involvement. KEYWORDS Neurofibromatosis, Sturge Weber Syndrome, Tuberous Sclerosis

Posterior Mediastinal and Cutaneous Back Hemangiomas in Infants: A New Association

Infantile hemangiomas (IHs) are common vascular tumors. In most cases, a benign course with favorable outcome can be anticipated. IH typically present as cutaneous lesions either with a localized or diffuse segmental distribution. Segmental hemangiomas in the face may be associated with brain and cardiac anomalies (PHACES syndrome), whereas airway involvement has been reported to be associated with hemangiomas in the “beard” area. Multiple cutaneous hemangiomas may be associated with visceral hemangiomas (commonly in the liver).In this report, we present a new association where deep paravertebral hemangiomatous lesions were observed to be associated with cutaneous back hemangiomas in two consecutive cases.

PHACES Syndrome with Intestinal Hemangioma Causing Recurrent Intussusceptions: A Case Report and Literature Review of Associated Intestinal Hemangioma

PHACES syndrome comprises posterior fossa malformations, segmental hemangioma, arterial anomalies, cardiac defects, eye anomalies and less commonly, sternal cleft, or supraumbilical raphe. We report a case of PHACES syndrome associated with intestinal hemangioma causing recurrent intussusceptions. A full-term infant female presented at the age of three months with segmental distribution of telangiectatic patch with red swelling involving the right periorbital area, right forehead, and lips. After a full workup and evaluation, the diagnosis of PHACES syndrome was confirmed based on the presence of facial segmental hemangioma, hypoplastic right internal carotid artery, intracranial hemangioma, and right optic disc anomaly. At the time of workup, she developed typical symptoms of intussusception. Diagnostic laparoscopy was performed, and she was found to have hemangioma covering the whole ileal wall and a thickened circumferential hemangioma covering the mid ilium causing the lead point of the intussusception. Control of this patient’s hemangiomas was achieved by surgical resection of the thickened circumferential hemangioma covering the mid ilium along with oral propranolol. We reviewed the literature to explore the relationship between gastrointestinal (GI) hemangioma and PHACES syndrome and compared other associated extracutaneous hemangioma of the same series. We found 18 (58%) reported cases of GI hemangioma compared to other visceral hemangiomas on the same series of confirmed PHACE syndrome. All of the reported cases in this series present with anemia and GI bleeding except our patient who had intussusception. This might indicate the significant association of GI hemangioma as extracutaneous hemangioma in PHACES syndrome, emphasizing the importance of investigating symptomatic patients.