"Hemangiomas (also called strawberry birthmarks) are the most common birthmark that babies have. Most of them do not cause any problems.
However, sometimes they can cause long term problems because of their appearance. Other hemangiomas can cause blindness or ulceration.
The Royal Children's Hospital has been using a new treatment for haemangiomas. This treatment is called propranolol and needs to be given to the baby for several months. Some babies with really severe haemangiomas respond really well. Baby Taylah, shown in Photo 1, had a very large haemangioma involving much of the face. In the past, these large facial haemangiomas have led to considerable long term disfigurement. Taylah did amazingly well on propranolol as can be seen from her next photo taken 8 months later.
Other babies do not respond to propranolol. Claire, shown in Photo 2, had a large focal haemangioma on her cheek which did not shrink despite many months of propranolol.
Doctors do not yet know how to predict which haemangiomas will respond and which won't. The Royal Children's Hospital is part of a major international research trial which is helping to work out how effective propranolol is. The trial is for babies who have a haemangioma larger than 1.5 cm and who are less than 5 months old. Any parents who are interested in taking part in the trial can contact Dr Rod Phillips on rod.phillips@rch.org.au."
Photo 1
Photo 2
