Parental Assessment of Infantile Hemangioma Cosmetic Clinical Outcomes: Results of the Spanish Hemangioma Nationwide Prospective Cohort

Abstract

Background

Functional impairment is the main consideration when it comes to choosing therapy for infantile hemangiomas (IH). However, since most hemangiomas are treated for cosmetic reasons, it is important to know the cosmetic outcome assessed by the parents.

Objective

To evaluate the aesthetic outcomes of IH, considering the characteristics of the lesions and the treatments used.

Patients and methods

The Spanish Infantile Hemangioma Nationwide Prospective Cohort (2016–2022) recruited all consecutive patients diagnosed with IH in 12 Spanish hospitals. The children included had two photos of the IH lesion (at both baseline and at the end of the study). A panel of parents blindly assessed all available photos using a scale from 0 (worst cosmetic outcomes) to 10 (best cosmetic outcomes). The different scores – both before and after treatment – as well as the outcomes percent considered excellent (>9) were described and compared. We analyzed the effect of receiving different therapies and performed causal model analyses estimating the mean treatment effect of parents’ assessments.

Results

The median follow-up was 3.1 years. A total of 824 photos were evaluated. Baseline aesthetic impact was higher in the propranolol group vs the topical timolol and observation treatment groups (1.85 vs 3.14 vs 3.66 respectively; p < 0.001). After treatment, the aesthetic impact was similar between both treatment groups (7.59 vs 7.93 vs 7.90; p > 0.2). The causal model could only be applied to the comparison between topical timolol and observation, revealing no differences whatsoever.

Conclusion

This is the first prospective cohort to analyze the aesthetic outcome of IH. The final aesthetic results of the three therapies were similar, with nearly 40% of patients achieving excellent aesthetic outcomes.