Infantile haemangiomas and quality of life

OBJECTIVE: To determine the quality of life (QOL) and self-esteem of children with infantile haemangiomas using objective measures. DESIGN: Twenty-one children, 5-8 years old, with a diagnosis of head or neck haemangioma measuring 2 cm or more, were compared with 22 children with no history of haemangioma. SETTING: A tertiary medical centre in the north of Israel. INTERVENTIONS: Demographic and clinical details were collected, followed by two questionnaires-Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) and Harter pictorial scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for young children-answered by children and parents of the two groups. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: QOL and self-esteem of the children in the two groups. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in QOL indices or self-perception scores between children with and without haemangioma (86.6±10.3 vs 80.1±15.07, p=0.23 and 3.62±0.2 vs 3.72±0.21, p=0.17, respectively). Interestingly, parents of children with haemangioma reported higher QOL of their children than parents of children without haemangioma (86.4±9.6 vs 77.1±14.9, p<0.03). Likewise, a positive correlation between parents' scored PedsQL and children's scored PedsQL was found (0.56, p=0.008). CONCLUSIONS: The findings raise a question about aggressive as opposed to more conservative treatment, especially in the era of propranolol.