High-Flow Hemangioma and Ultrasounds

A hemangioma forms when there is an abnormal buildup of blood vessels in the skin or in an internal organ. While capillary hemangiomas normally appear on the face, high-flow hemangiomas often develop in the liver.

History

Until the 1970s, physicians had noted hemangiomas occurring naturally mainly in patients with a strawberry nevus. Invention of the CT scan has provided doctors with a good deal more information. Imaging tools have allowed doctors to observe evidence of involution whenever a hemangioma's growth and eventual disappearance happens in an organ such as the liver.

Ultrasound Diagnosis

Imaging allowed discovery of the fact that a hemangioma can form in the liver, just as it does on the face. The same tools revealed that the same collection of blood vessels can involute and disappear. Concerns about the possible consequences of such involution have underlined the need for more diagnostic tools.

Ultrasound has proven to be a tool that is always ready and waiting. Physicians are now using it in place of the MRI. It shows the fatty replacement that takes place during a typical involution. It can reveal the transformation of an echo-poor area into a region of echogenicity. An angiogram can be used to confirm findings from an MRI or an ultrasound. It shows the level of tissue staining.

Treatment and Complications

Both steroid injections and laser treatments have been used remove hemangiomas. When one is located deep within an internal organ, a hemangioma could pose a threat to completion of all normal bodily functions.

References

• "Pediatrics Radiology"; Imaging and Therapeutic Approach of Hemangiomas and Vascular Malformations in the Pediatric Age Group; Jose Dubois and Laurent Garel; 1999
• "American Journal of Roentgenology"; Hepatic Hemangiomas With Arterioportal Shunt: Sonographic Appearances With CT and MRI Correlation; Kyoung Won Kim, et al.; October 2006