Flaming nevus in newborns can be seen in the first days of life. Such spots can vary in their shape, shade, and even texture. Most often, their origin is determined by genetic factors. It is worth noting that the flaming nevus on the face and head of a child requires special attention. Only a specialist, taking into account the peculiarities of the spot, can accurately diagnose and select the appropriate therapy.
Nevus - what is it
Such neoplasms in infants are also called wine stain and capillary malformation. This is a congenital pathology, which is characterized by the appearance on the skin of flat vascular spots with blurred borders. It is equally often diagnosed in both boys and girls. The nature of this anomaly is still poorly understood, but doctors can only say one thing with accuracy - the disease has nothing to do with taking medications during pregnancy.
Vascular moles can have a completely different shape and can be localized literally everywhere. Usually, such spots grow with the child. As for the shade of the nevus, due to the close location of the capillaries to the surface of the skin, it ranges from pink to dark purple. Thanks to visual features, malformation is popularly called wine stains. Their size can exceed even 20 cm.
Features
Very often, nevus is initially mistaken for an ordinary mole. But if the latter usually disappears on its own in the first year of life, then malformation, on the contrary, gradually becomes even rougher and larger. In addition, most often wine stains appear on the neck and face, which, of course, brings a lot of discomfort and even complexes.
Sometimes nevus is confused with hemangioma due to visual similarity. But unlike growths with high oncogenic risk, malformation does not pose a danger to the health and life of the child.
Etiology
In the course of numerous studies, several factors were identified that could lead to the appearance of a flaming nevus. As it turned out, it appears against the background of a deficiency or a complete lack of contact of the nerve endings with the walls of the capillaries. That is why the nervous system is not able to control changes in the parameters of blood vessels, because of which they begin to overflow with blood. Gradually, it stagnates and acquires a lilac saturated hue, which becomes very noticeable on the skin.
Just a few years ago, most doctors adhered to expectant tactics in the treatment of this pathology. After all, it was believed that over time, wine stains gradually disappear. But in most cases, in fact, the alleged regression does not occur, and malformation begins to grow, bringing the child discomfort is not so much physical as psychological.
Today, nevus can be easily treated. Only one thing is important - start treatment as soon as possible.
Risk group
According to scientists, to a greater degree the occurrence of a flaming nevus is subject to:
- white-skinned children;
- premature babies;
- girls.
In addition, some doctors are of the opinion that at the time the baby passes through the birth canal, too high pressure and hypoxia provoke the appearance of spots.
Clinical picture
Of course, the main symptom indicating pathology is the presence in the baby of bluish or red spots with uneven edges. When pressed, they tend to turn pale. Parents should keep in mind that the nevus never itches and there is no inflammation on its surface. In addition, he does not bleed, but also does not pass without special therapy. As the child grows, wine stains will also increase in size. Over time, they can become cyanotic and become covered with angiofibromas - small nodules.
If a flaming nevus is found on the baby's body, you should consult a specialist, including a geneticist. If malformation covers the limbs, it is advisable to consult a surgeon. To prevent the appearance of Cobb syndrome, you should visit a pediatric neurologist.
Associated Vices
Often, the presence of a nevus indicates genetic pathologies that require serious treatment.
- Rubinstein-Teibi disease. This is a syndrome characterized by hypertelorism, dwarf growth, low intellectual abilities. With such a defect, the child's normal body proportions are violated, asymmetry of paired internal organs is noted.
- Sturge-Crabbe-Weber disease. In such a situation, a flaming nevus refers to one of the types of benign tumors. The disease can provoke all kinds of impaired mobility and paresis. In addition, it manifests itself in the form of regular convulsions, glaucoma, increased intraocular pressure. If the disease is not cured in time, the child may become completely blind.
- Clippel-Weber-Trenone disease. With this syndrome, the nevus is usually localized on the arms or legs. As a rule, spots are accompanied by varicose veins. Often, abnormal changes in the vascular bed are also diagnosed, in which venous blood enters the arteries, provoking oxygen starvation and intoxication. Toxins can lead to the development of giantism of the extremities.
- Cobb's disease. The presence of such a defect can be suspected if the flaming nevus is localized in the spine. This pathology involves vascular damage in the spinal cord. In this condition, spastic paralysis is observed, in which the mobility of the legs suffers. In more severe cases, sensitivity below the back completely disappears.
Diagnostics
The doctor can determine this pathology based on a simple examination. Although sometimes it is very difficult to conduct differential diagnosis of a flaming nevus with hemangioma and birthmarks. If malformations are accompanied by damage to the eyelids or the newborn has regular cramps, additional examinations, for example, MRI of the head, are required. Using this study, you can detect Sturge-Weber disease. This is a defect characterized by the onset of angioma.
For histological analysis, a scraping from the nevus may be necessary. To determine the exact diagnosis, in some cases, consultation with a geneticist, neurologist, and ophthalmologist is additionally required.
Flaming Nevus Treatment
Wine stains with the development of the child can greatly thicken, coarsen, darken and increase. In addition, the nevus on the arms, legs, face and other exposed areas of the skin gives the baby a lot of experiences. That is why it is really necessary to treat it. In the treatment of nevus, several effective techniques are used.
- Laser application. This is a fairly effective and safe procedure that does not require anesthesia. In addition, such therapy has no age restrictions. After a laser skin treatment session, a small patient can immediately go home. The principle of operation of this technique lies in the penetration of the beam through the skin and its effect on the dilated vessels. Blood cells are gradually glued together and the nevus soon disappears.
- Surgical intervention. The operation is used only in cases where laser therapy was ineffective. True, surgical intervention is used extremely rarely due to the difficult rehabilitation period.
- Cryotherapy. During this procedure, the nevus is simply frozen with liquid nitrogen. It is he who leads to the destruction of damaged cells and their subsequent restoration. True, such a procedure can be trusted only by an experienced specialist who inadvertently does not damage the basal layer of the skin.
Alternative medicine also offers many different treatments for flaming nevus. However, all of them can only lower the brightness of the spots, but I simply can not completely eliminate their folk recipes.
Therapy should be started in the first few months of the child's life. After all, the older he gets, the more difficult the nevus can be treated.
What is the danger
In fact, congenital wine stains provoke the emergence of additional problems as they grow. The flaming nevus on the face, neck and other areas of the skin is able to change its color over time, grow greatly and even impair vision. Gradually, the flat texture of malfomacy is transformed into a relief outgrowth with a large number of unpleasant and ugly nodules. They are very easy to damage, while they bleed heavily and heal for a long time. In addition, psychological discomfort plays an important role, especially in adolescence, when children are very vulnerable and perceive all insults to heart.
It is noteworthy that wine stains usually do not entail dangerous complications. But you still need to delete them. This is the only way to prevent the development of not only complexes, but also dermatological problems in the form of psoriasis and seborrhea.