[Comparative study on pathology of non involuting congenital hemangioma and infantile hemangioma].

OBJECTIVE: To distinguish non involuting congenital hemangioma (NICH) and infantile hemangioma (IH) by comparing the pathological structure and marker antigen expression.

METHODS: From Jan. 2005 to Aug. 2010, 39 paraffin-embedded samples, including 13 cases of NICH, 13 cases of proliferating IH and 13 cases of involuting IH, were collected from operation. Hematoxylin-eosin staining was used to observe the pathological structure. Immunohistochemical analysis was also performed to investigate the expression of Glut-1.

RESULTS: The lobules of capillaries were well-defined in NICH. The lobules were surrounded by abundant fibrous tissue. The capillaries were often large and integrity in NICH. There were few mitosis and apoptosis in endothelial cells and stromal cells in NICH. While in IH, the pathologic findings were totally different. Immunochemistry revealed that the Glut-1 was expressed in endothelial cells of IH, but not in NICH.

CONCLUSIONS: NICH has a steady histologic structure and low proliferation, while the endothelial cells in proliferative IH has a high proliferation. Glut-1 can be used as the reliable marker antigen for differential diagnosis of NICH and proliferative infantile hemangiomas.