Blood sponge in babys

Most blood sponges in babies appear immediately after birth or are congenital. Only very few forms develop after the 3rd decade of life. Contrary to many rumours, the appearance of haemangioma cannot be caused by the behaviour of either the mother or the child.

It is often mistakenly believed that events during pregnancy or birth lead to haematopoietic sponges in the baby. However, this is not the case. Mothers should therefore not blame themselves if a baby has a haematopoietic sponge.

About 3-5% of all newborns have a blood sponge. Premature babies seem to be affected about 10 times more frequently than those born at maturity. The reasons for this have not yet been clarified.

Blood sponges usually show a growth tendency within the first year of life. Their size varies greatly from child to child and cannot be predicted. By the age of 10, most haemangioma sponges regress and disappear.

Due to this tendency to self-healing, a wait-and-see attitude can be taken in many cases. Blood sponges as such do not cause any discomfort to the baby. Under mechanical stress they can bleed or hurt.

Depending on the situation, some haemangioma sponges require treatment. This is the case, for example, if they grow very deeply and thus impair or displace important structures. These include large haemangioma near the eyes and the eye socket. Various methods of therapy are available, such as laser, cryogenic or surgical therapy. Recently, drug treatment with the beta-blocker propanolol, which can stop the growth of some blood sponges, has also become possible.

Blood sponge in adults

Blood sponges of the liver often appear as a random finding during a CT, MRT or a simple ultrasound examination of the abdomen. This is because they usually do not cause any symptoms and are therefore hardly ever searched for. Up to 20% of the population have blood sponges in the liver – thus the so-called liver hemangioma is the most frequent tumour of the liver.

Since it is a benign malformation, the liver hemangioma has no potential to degenerate. There are three types of haemangioma in the liver: To confirm the diagnosis of a liver hemangioma, contrast medium sonography is used. There, the so-called iris diaphragm phenomenon becomes apparent.

The name can be explained by the fact that the contrast medium accumulates from the outside to the inside and thus takes on the appearance of an iris diaphragm. A therapy is basically not necessary. In very rare cases, when the haematopoietic sponge causes pain or is pressing neighbouring organs due to a strong growth in size, removal is advisable.

The capillary liver hemangioma (type 1) is usually very small (about 1-2 cm). – Cavernous hemangiomas (type 2), on the other hand, are larger and have a lobed structure. – A diameter of about 5 cm or more is referred to as a giant hemangioma.

This usually belongs to type 3, whose characteristics are thrombosed and scarred areas. In most parts of the body, haemangiomas are not perceived as particularly disturbing. The lip is one of the few exceptions.

Blood sponges can already be a hindrance to the lip during feeding in infancy and can lead to complaints. Smaller blood sponges are usually not a problem, whereas larger blood sponges in particular can bleed easily in this area. Since the lip is constantly subjected to mechanical stress by the children, be it through eating, sucking or later also through talking, the haemangioma can easily bleed or hurt.

Very large blood sponges in this area can also lead to deformations of the jaw or the teeth. Treatment of such blood sponges is already sensible in infancy and toddlers, as complications are imminent, especially with rapid growth. However, the decision has to be made individually. In the case of very small haemangioma, it is also possible to wait for a short time, as spontaneous healing can occur.