eMedicine Specialties > Dermatology > Diseases of the Vessels

Cherry Hemangioma: Follow-up

Author: Clarence William Brown Jr, MD, Assistant Professor of Dermatology, Director of Mohs Micrographic and Dermatological Surgery, Rush University Medical Center
Contributor Information and Disclosures

Updated: May 9, 2008

Follow-up

Further Outpatient Care

  • In general, the benign lesions of cherry hemangioma require no therapy, although lesions that are irritated or bleeding (most commonly secondary to trauma) usually require surgical intervention.
  • Follow-up evaluations usually are arranged approximately 1 month after initial therapy.
  • Occasionally, more than a single treatment is required to eliminate the lesion(s).
  • If the lesions are numerous and present as small macules, consider a bleeding disorder such as thrombocytopenia.

Deterrence/Prevention

  • No effective means are available by which the development of the lesions of cherry hemangioma can be prevented.

Complications

  • Hemorrhages and secondary infection may complicate the course of traumatized lesions, often requiring surgical removal of the inflamed angioma.
  • The gradual appearance of multiple cherry angiomas over many years is common and often is expected; however, the sudden appearance of multiple cutaneous lesions always should raise concerns that the lesions may accompany the development of an internal malignancy.

Prognosis

  • The appearance of cherry angiomas has essentially no effect on the patient's life span, except in very rare situations in which the angiomas are present as a paraneoplastic sign in association with the development of an internal malignancy.

Patient Education

  • Patients rarely require little more than the reassurance that cherry angiomas are benign lesions and are not skin cancer.
  • Occasionally, removal of a lesion that has been traumatized is necessary, or a patient requests removal of lesions because of cosmetic concerns.

Miscellaneous

Medicolegal Pitfalls

  • Rarely, some confusion may arise in determining whether a deeply violaceous or a darkly pigmented papule represents a traumatized and thrombosed cherry angioma or malignant melanoma. In any situation in which doubt exists regarding the diagnosis of a cutaneous neoplasm, perform a skin biopsy and obtain histopathologic analysis.
 


More on Cherry Hemangioma

Overview: Cherry Hemangioma
Differential Diagnoses & Workup: Cherry Hemangioma
Treatment & Medication: Cherry Hemangioma
Follow-up: Cherry Hemangioma
Multimedia: Cherry Hemangioma
References
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References

  1. Pembroke AC, Grice K, Levantine AV, Warin AP. Eruptive angiomata in malignant disease. Clin Exp Dermatol. Jun 1978;3(2):147-56. [Medline].

  2. Dawn G, Gupta G. Comparison of potassium titanyl phosphate vascular laser and hyfrecator in the treatment of vascular spiders and cherry angiomas. Clin Exp Dermatol. Nov 2003;28(6):581-3. [Medline].

  3. Gupta G, Bilsland D. A prospective study of the impact of laser treatment on vascular lesions. Br J Dermatol. Aug 2000;143(2):356-9. [Medline].

  4. Calonje E, Wilson-Jones E. Vascular tumors: tumors and tumor-like conditions of blood vessels and lymphatics. In: Elder D, Elenitsas R, Jaworsky C, Johnson B Jr, eds. Lever's Histopathology of the Skin. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Lippincott-Raven; 1997:902.

  5. Hagiwara K, Khaskhely NM, Uezato H, Nonaka S. Mast cell "densities" in vascular proliferations: a preliminary study of pyogenic granuloma, portwine stain, cavernous hemangioma, cherry angioma, Kaposi's sarcoma, and malignant hemangioendothelioma. J Dermatol. Sep 1999;26(9):577-86. [Medline].

  6. Mazereeuw-Hautier J, Cambon L, Bonafé JL. [Eruptive pseudoangiomatosis in an adult renal transplant recipient]. Ann Dermatol Venereol. Jan 2001;128(1):55-6. [Medline].

  7. Odom RB, James WD, Berger TB. Dermal and subcutaneous tumors: cherry angiomas. In: Andrew's Diseases of the Skin: Clinical Dermatology. 2000. 9th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: WB Saunders; 2000:751.

  8. Sanchez JL, Ackerman AB. Vascular proliferations of skin and subcutaneous tissue. In: Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine. Vol 1. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 1993:1219-20.

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Further Reading

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Keywords

Campbell de Morgan spots, senile angiomas

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Contributor Information and Disclosures

Author

Clarence William Brown Jr, MD, Assistant Professor of Dermatology, Director of Mohs Micrographic and Dermatological Surgery, Rush University Medical Center
Clarence William Brown Jr, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Dermatology and American College of Mohs Micrographic Surgery and Cutaneous Oncology
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Medical Editor

Evan R Farmer, MD, Professor of Dermatology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Clinical Professor of Pathology, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine; Consulting Staff, Department of Dermatology, Johns Hopkins Hospital, VCU Health Services
Evan R Farmer, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Dermatology, American Dermatological Association, American Medical Association, American Society of Dermatopathology, and International Society of Dermatology
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Pharmacy Editor

Richard P Vinson, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Dermatology, Texas Tech University School of Medicine; Consulting Staff, Mountain View Dermatology, PA
Richard P Vinson, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Dermatology, Association of Military Dermatologists, Texas Dermatological Society, and Texas Medical Association
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Managing Editor

Warren R Heymann, MD, Head, Division of Dermatology, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
Warren R Heymann, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Dermatology, American Society of Dermatopathology, and Society for Investigative Dermatology
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

CME Editor

Catherine Quirk, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Dermatology, Brown University
Catherine Quirk, MD is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha and American Academy of Dermatology
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

William D James, MD, Paul R Gross Professor of Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Vice-Chair, Program Director, Department of Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania Health System
William D James, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Dermatology and Society for Investigative Dermatology
Disclosure: elsevier Royalty Other; american college of physicians Honoraria Other

 
 
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