Port wine hemangiomas are present at birth and grow at the same rate as the normal surrounding skin. In the third, fourth, or fifth decades of life, a port wine hemangioma may become thicker or spongier than the adjacent normal skin and the surface of the hemangioma, which may have been quite smooth during the first decades of life, may develop an irregular and lumpy cobblestone appearance.


Cavernous Hemangiomas
A cavernous hemangioma may be characterized by tumor-like networks of dilated blood vessels and/or irregularly shaped, thin-walled spaces that may permeate organ systems. Cavernous hemangiomas appear during childhood and will grow proportionally as the child


grows. They can vary greatly in size and are usually under the skin. When they are elevated above the surface of the skin they may appear to be nodular and bluish purple in color. When compressed these lesions will often empty of blood then rapidly refill. There are several sub categories of cavernous hemangiomas.

What treatments are available for vascular birthmarks?
Many forms of therapy have been used on hemangiomas in the past, however most have been abandoned because they are either ineffective or because they create another deformity that is as undesirable as the hemangioma itself. Surgeons have removed port wine hemangiomas and reconstructed the area with skin grafts.

Such procedures entail a significant amount of surgery, and the scars that result are often quite objectionable. X-rays, which were used in the past, are now known to be potentially dangerous and are no longer used to treat port wine hemangiomas. A variety of agents have been injected into the involved skin but with no significant