Abortive or minimal-growth hemangiomas: Immunohistochemical evidence that they represent true infantile hemangiomas.
BACKGROUND
Infantile hemangiomas have a characteristic natural history of rapid proliferation in the first weeks of life followed by spontaneous involution. At birth, they may be present as a precursor lesion. Sometimes one may see precursor lesions that never undergo a growth phase or that undergo minimal growth. It is unclear the exact nature of these precursor-like lesions.


OBJECTIVE
We sought to describe the morphology and histopathology of these precursor-like lesions.


METHODS
We describe 4 patients with macules resembling precursor lesions of hemangiomas that did not show proliferation phase or minimal growth. The histopathologic and immunohistochemical study with glucose transporter-1 was performed in all of these cases.


RESULTS
The skin biopsy specimen showed superficial ectatic vessels that reacted with anti-glucose transporter-1 antibodies. All skin biopsy specimens exhibited capillary lobules in papillary dermis and, in two of them, in the reticular dermis and subcutis.


CONCLUSIONS
This text is limited by the number of cases reported.


CONCLUSIONS
Precursor lesions of hemangioma that do not show proliferation phase or minimal growth represent, in the view of glucose transporter-1 immunoreactivity, true hemangiomas of infancy with an aborted or arrested growth cycle.
Corella
Francisca
F
Department of Dermatology, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain.
Garcia-Navarro
Xavier
X
Ribe
Adriana
A
Alomar
Agustin
A
Baselga
Eulalia
E
D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D051272:Glucose Transporter Type 1 / Q000276:immunology; D006391:Hemangioma / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D013684:Telangiectasis / Q000473:pathology
D051272:Glucose Transporter Type 1