Increasing incidence of infantile hemangiomas (IH) over the past 35 years: Correlation with decreasing gestational age at birth and birth weight.
BACKGROUND
Infantile hemangiomas (IH) are the most common soft-tissue tumors of infancy, but little is known regarding their true incidence.


OBJECTIVE
We sought to determine the current incidence of IH and examine trends in incidence, demographics, and lesion characteristics over 3 decades.


METHODS
The Rochester Epidemiology Project was used to identify infants residing in Olmsted County, Minnesota, who were given a diagnosis of IH between January 1, 1976, and December 31, 2010.


RESULTS
In all, 999 infants were given a diagnosis of IH. Incidence increased over the 3-decade study period from 0.97 to 1.97 per 100 person-years (P < .001). Average gestational age at birth and birth weight for infants with IH decreased over the study period (39.2-38.3 weeks, P < .001 and 3383-3185 g, P = .003, respectively). The overall age- and sex-adjusted incidence of IH was 1.64 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 1.54-1.75).


CONCLUSIONS
The population of Olmsted County, Minnesota, is predominantly non-Hispanic white, limiting our ability to report racial differences in incidence. This was a retrospective study.


CONCLUSIONS
This study provides a longitudinal, population-based incidence of IH. Incidence has increased steadily over the past 3 decades, correlating significantly with decreasing gestational age at birth and birth weight in affected infants.
Department of Dermatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
Katelyn R
KR
Anderson
Department of Dermatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
Jennifer J
JJ
Schoch
Department of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
Christine M
CM
Lohse
Department of Dermatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota; Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota; Department of Medical Genetics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
Jennifer L
JL
Hand
Department of Dermatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota; Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
Dawn M
DM
Davis
Department of Dermatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota; Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. Electronic address: Tollefson.Megha@mayo.edu.
Megha M
MM
Tollefson
D017677:Age Distribution; D001724:Birth Weight; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D018324:Hemangioma, Capillary / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008910:Minnesota / Q000453:epidemiology; D009386:Neoplastic Syndromes, Hereditary / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*
hemangioma; incidence; infantile hemangioma; vascular anomaly; vascular birthmark; vascular tumor