ABSTRACT
Background: Infantile hemangioma (IH) in most cases can be a self-limited condition; however, it may be ulcerated, infected, causing organ function disability and even death. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has a role in IH. Bevacizumab is a monoclonal antibody against VEGF-A.
Objectives: We aimed to evaluate and compare the efficacy of intralesional injection of bevacizumab ver- sus triamcinolone acetonide (TAC) in IH.
Methods: Thirty patients with IH were included in this study, divided into two equal groups, and treated with intralesional injection; the first group by bevacizumab and the second group by TAC. The injections in both groups were given every 4 weeks for six sessions. Assessment of the clinical response was done by the hemangioma activity score (HAS) and visual analog scale (VAS).
Results: Both treatment modalities gave similar initial improvement after three sessions. However, with continuing injection sessions, bevacizumab reached a response’s plateau and TAC gave better significant results after six injection sessions reading both HAS (p 1⁄4 .0017) and VAS (p .001).
Conclusion: Both intralesional injection of bevacizumab and TAC were safe and effective treatments in early proliferative IH after three sessions, however, TAC injection was significantly better than bevacizu- mab after six sessions.