MRI or Ultrasound in Children with Infantile Hemangiomas?

Half the patients with lumbosacral hemangioma >2.5 cm had underlying spinal abnormalities identified on magnetic resonance imaging.

Whether all children with infantile hemangiomas on the lower back warrant imaging to detect possible underlying spinal cord anomalies is uncertain; moreover, whether ultrasound is sufficiently sensitive to detect these abnormalities is unclear. In a multisite, prospective cohort study, investigators obtained magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound, or both in 48 patients (age range, 1–277 weeks) with infantile hemangiomas, hemangioma precursor, or residual hemangioma >2.5 cm in diameter over the midline lumbosacral region.

Imaging was performed at a mean age of 8 months; 21 of 48 patients (44%) had spinal abnormalities, including tethered spinal cord (12) and intraspinal hemangioma (5). Spinal abnormalities were identified by MRI in 51%…

Reviewing Author

Howard Bauchner, MD

Disclosures

Grant / research supportHuman Resources and Services Administration; NIH; NIH-NHLBI; USDA; GlaxoSmithKline

Editorial boardsArchives of Disease in Childhood (Editor-in-Chief)

Howard Bauchner, MD

Disclosures

Grant / research supportHuman Resources and Services Administration; NIH; NIH-NHLBI; USDA; GlaxoSmithKline

Editorial boardsArchives of Disease in Childhood (Editor-in-Chief)