Haemangioma

[shazza292022]

Hi when my baby was born she had a strawberry mark on her head, that soon grew bigger and bigger. We went to the Gp who said they think it is a haemangioma and referred her to the paediatrician. They also said the same but as it is abit lumpy (not the term she used but can't remember exactly, think she meant it was abit more puffy then a normal haemangioma!) that she is to have an ultrasound. Fast forward 5 weeks and we had the ultrasound and was told that they were unsure and she needed to be put to sleep for an MRI which will take a long time to get an appointment for. So they basically think that possibly the lump is in contact with the skull and could be putting pressure on her brain, and that is worse case scenario. There is no evidence to say this is the case but they need to check.

I am beyond worried and have been an emotional wreck all week. I have never known anyone to have had something like this before so hence am reaching out here. Has anyone been in this situation before?

From a very worried mum :(

Our DC also had a haemangioma. The best advice I can give you is to try to remain calm. Haemangiomas are scary looking and seem to grow so quickly on tiny babies, but they also very rarely cause medical problems and they self-resolve and disappear. Our DC's was gone by their 2nd birthday. It sounds like you are already getting good specialist treatment which is the most important thing as the GPs really don't know enough to help. If they determine that the haemangioma needs to be treated, there are a lot of good options these days, including Propanalol. Out of curiosity, where are you based? The team at GOSH were excellent when we sought out a specialist for additional information.

Hi thanks for your reply. Well my daughter is actually 1 now so isn't so much a baby anymore and so, it does look smaller nowadays (ever so slightly!) but as she is bigger and has hair, we are wondering if that's why it looks small. Can I ask, did they give your DC an ultrasound or were they able to determine what it was just by looking at it? We are based in the south west.

We did not have an ultrasound. The haemangioma was, I think, straightforward in our instance and we opted to watch and wait without any treatment. Good luck!