Efficacy of Intra-Lesional Bleomycin Sclerotherapy for the Treatment of Hemangioma-Case Report

Abstract

Vascular anomalies are one of the challenging diseases to manage, presenting in different age groups and with varied clinical course, of which hemangiomas are common which are vasoproliferative neoplasms and can occur in any organ. Depending on the age at presentation they are classified as congenital and infantile hemangiomas. Not much attention has been paid regarding the imaging and treatment modalities of vascular malformations particularly hemangiomas due to scarcity of literature related to this condition. Majority of these vascular malformations are self-limiting, but in a few cases these lesions may grow with age which can be treated surgically or by sclerotherapy which has been the safe, less invasive, economical and easily available modality for treating hemangiomas. Bleomycin is the main sclerosing agent used which is a cytotoxic anti-tumor antibiotic which was later found to have anti-cancer properties. In our case, a 9 year old male child presented to our institution with a lump in the left side of abdomen since birth. Contrast enhanced CT abdomens was suggestive of  a vascular malformation. Patient was treated with sclerotherapy with intralesional bleomycin for which good results were noted by decrease in the size and vascularity of the swelling.