Quality of Life in School-Aged Children with Head and Neck Hemangiomas

Indications for treatment of hemangiomas include ulceration, infection, bleeding, interference with function, and disfigurement. Disfigurement is subjective, and parental reports of quality of life (QOL) of young children with hemangiomas vary. Researchers in Israel compared 21 children (age range, 5–8 years) at a hospital dermatology clinic with head or neck hemangiomas (average, 3 cm) and 22 matched children without hemangiomas. Nine children with hemangiomas had experienced complications, and nine had received treatment for their hemangiomas.

Both physical and psychosocial scores on a validated child-reported QOL measure did not differ significantly between groups. A pictorial self-esteem scale (validated for older children) also showed n…