Soft tissue
Vascular
Benign
Hemangioma
Author: Vijay Shankar, M.D.
Topic Completed: 1 November 2012
Minor changes: 11 October 2021
Copyright: 2002-2021, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed search: soft tissue [title] hemangioma
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Capillary hemangioma | Cavernous hemangioma | Gross description | Microscopic (histologic) description | Microscopic (histologic) imagesCite this page: Shankar V. Hemangioma. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/softtissuehemangioma.html. Accessed October 15th, 2021.
Definition / general
- Common benign tumor, particularly in childhood; some may be hamartomas
- Usually superficial (head / neck), may occur internally (1 / 3 in liver), malignant transformation rare
- Usually localized, but may involve large segments of body (termed angiomatosis)
- Most pediatric angiomas are present at birth and expand with growth of child; may regress at puberty
Capillary hemangioma
- Blood vessels resemble capillaries
- Present in skin, subcutaneous tissue, mucous membranes of lips, mouth, internal viscera
- Strawberry type is seen in juveniles in 1 / 200 births, may be multiple, grow in first year, fade at ages 1 - 3, regress by age 7 in 75%
Cavernous hemangioma
- In skin, called port wine nevus or nevus flammeus
- Present at birth, grows slowly with patient; does not regress
- In deep locations may thrombose, ulcerate, become infected; associated with thrombocytopenia, intravascular coagulation
- Associated with von Hippel Lindau disease, which has cavernous hemangiomas in cerebellum, brain stem, eye grounds
- Sinusoidal hemangiomas: cavernous hemangiomas with dilated, interconnected, thin walled channels with occasional pseudopapillary projections
Gross description
- Cavernous hemangioma: 1 - 2 cm (larger than capillary), sharply defined
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Increased number of vessels (normal / abnormal)
- Readily recognizable vascular structures with red blood cells or transudate
- Lined by monolayer of non atypical endothelial cells
- Capillary: closely packed spindle cells with spaces containing little blood; lumens may be thrombosed or organized, hemosiderin present due to rupture; scant fibrous stroma
- Cavernous:
- large cystically dilated vessels with thin walls; intravascular thrombosis or calcification is common
Microscopic (histologic) images
Contributed by Shilpa Jain, M.D.
Hemangioma
