What are the types of orbital hemangiomas?

Orbital hemangioma can be divided into different types, including capillary hemangioma or cavernous hemangioma, and it may also be a mixed hemangioma. Therefore, if you want to treat it effectively, you must first distinguish and understand it and use the right medication.

1. Capillary hemangioma: Common ones include strawberry hemangioma and bright red birthmark, commonly known as red birthmark. It is located in the superficial layer of the skin, is caused by the proliferation of vascular endothelial cells, and forms a dense network of tiny capillaries. It is common in the eyelid area, accounting for about 60% to 70% of hemangiomas. Generally, most of them occur in infants and young children. They are discovered as soon as the child is born or after birth. As the child grows, the hemangioma will also grow and expand, and expand to the surrounding area. It is red or purple, flat, oval or irregular in shape, sometimes protruding slightly from the skin, soft to the touch, faded when pressed, with clear boundaries, and mostly located on one side of the eyelid.

2. Cavernous hemangioma: Cavernous hemangioma is a vascular malformation with low blood flow that appears at birth, also known as venous malformation. Vascular damage generally develops slowly, often increasing in childhood or adolescence, but not significantly in adulthood. Most venous malformations are spongy, hence the name. It often occurs in the dermis and subcutaneous tissue of the eyelid skin, and contains many hemangiomas or cavities of varying sizes and irregular shapes, which are filled with blood. Most of them are discovered shortly after birth. Hemangiomas grow rapidly in infancy and then slow down. As the child grows and develops, they gradually increase in size and become lumps that protrude above the skin. They are soft in texture and have various shapes, including flat, nodular, hillock-like, and purple-blue in color. The lump becomes larger when the head is lowered or when crying, and is soft to the touch with clear boundaries. The lump shrinks when pressed.

3. Mixed hemangioma: It is composed of capillaries and cavernous hemangiomas, and has the pathological and clinical characteristics of the above two types of hemangiomas. Common in infants and children, mixed hemangiomas can reach large sizes. Their growth process is similar to that of strawberry capillary hemangiomas. In the first 6 months, they grow rapidly and are extremely invasive. Within a few weeks, normal tissue can be severely damaged.

4. Hemangioendothelioma and perithelioma: a congenital tumor that belongs to the borderline tumor between benign and malignant. It is not discovered after birth and gradually increases in size within a few months. It is prone to occur in the eyelids, head, face and other parts. The growth is diffuse or involves a large area of ​​the orbit. It is often called giant hemangioendothelioma. Hemangiopericytoma: The tumor has many small blood vessels, and there are extremely dense short spindle-shaped and oval tumor cells between the blood vessels. About 20% of hemangiopericytomas become malignant, but their shapes lack important features that distinguish benign from malignant tumors.