Abstract

Infantile hemangiomas are the most common tumors of infancy and usually disappear over time without need for any treatment. Serious lesions that settle in airways and the orbit and cause breathing difficulties or visual defects and lesions that settle in areas such as the face, ears and nose and can lead to cosmetic problems as well as complications such as ulcers, bleeding and infection may need to be treated. Steroids, interferon, and vincristine have been used for a long time in the medical treatment of these lesions. However, the use of oral propranolol has become quite popular in the treatment of infantile hemangioma since 2008 when the nasal hemangioma of a baby who was treated with oral propranolol for obstructive cardiomyopathy was seen to incidentally decrease in size. Propranolol may lead to various complications, especially in infants younger than 6 months, and therefore patients who use propranolol are monitored closely with various follow-up protocols in many clinics. This study presents the use of oral propranolol as first-line therapy in a 4-month-old patient with a fast-growing infantile hemangioma in the right ear and the face and the follow-up protocol implemented during use.