Topical treatment of infantile hemangiomas – where are we now ?

© 2009 The Serbian Association of Dermatovenereologists for both the parents and the growing child, especially when on the face and neck, and parents are anxious to achieve early improvement rather than wait and see. Even though treatment is not warranted for small and superficial IHs, since the overall outcome may be compared with spontaneous involution in the long term, early non-aggressive therapeutic intervention with a safe and effective topical modality has several advantages over “active non-intervention”. Such advantages include prophylaxis for better cosmetic outcome, by preventing fibro-fatty tissue deposition and parents’ and patient’s psychological distress. Several topical agents have been used in recent years to treat IHs with variable success. These include topical beta-blockers, imiquimod and topical corticosteroids. Unfortunately, data from large, prospective, randomized, controlled trials are not available for any of these agents, so recommendations about their use and monitoring are based on case reports/series and small studies. Currently, a protocol Abstract