[Response to oral propranolol therapy for ulcerated hemangiomas in infancy].

INTRODUCTION: Hemangioma is the most common tumor of infancy. Ulceration and functional prognosis justify systemic treatment.

CASE REPORT: We report the case of an 8-month-old girl with a voluminous ulcerated hemangioma of the left forearm with a large, painful, central ulceration. Conventional treatment with topical and/or systemic antibiotics was unsuccessful. Flashlamp-pumped pulsed-dye laser (FPDL) could not be used because of the thickness of the lesions. We decided to use beta-blocker therapy (propanolol) for 4 months with a noteworthy efficacy.

DISCUSSION: Systemic corticosteroids and FPDL are currently the reference treatment of the superficial hemangioma during infancy, but the head and neck location or complications such as ulceration or the need for surgical embolization require the use of alternative treatments such as the beta-blocker. We discuss this option.