Giant hepatic hemangiomas in newborns, review literature. Two cases of giant congenital hepatic hemangiomas

Hemangiomas are the most frequent tumors of childhood age. In the first year of life their prevalence is 10–12%. Among premature children, the prevalence of hemangiomas correlates with the degree of prematurity. Liver hemangiomas are a wide range of benign vascular formations that can acquire both malignant course and capable of spontaneous regression. Small-sized hemangiomas generally do not require specific treatment and proceed asymptomally. Large-sized formations can cause life-threatening conditions such as severe thrombocytopenia with coagulopathy (Kazabah–Merrit syndrome), anaemia, tumor hemorrhage, spontaneous and traumatic tumor breaks, heart failure associated with intra-tumor bypass of blood flow, abdominal compression syndrome, severe hypothyroidism. Diagnosis of this pathology is carried out on the basis of a set of data of medical imaging, laboratory diagnostics and clinical picture. This review presents key points of general classification, the most characteristic diagnostic signs, as well as basic algorithms of treatment of liver hemangiomas in newborns and children of the first year of life. There are also described 2 clinical cases of newborns with giant liver hemangiomas, which were examined and treated in the pathology department of newborns and infants of Perinatal Center of St. Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University with a description of the peculiarities of the course of each of them.