This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Cherry angioma is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
| Cherry angioma Classification and external resources |
|
 |
|
|---|---|
| A cherry angioma. | |
| ICD-9 | 448.1 |
| DiseasesDB | 30744 |
| MedlinePlus | 001441 |
| eMedicine | derm/73 |
Cherry angiomas, or cherry hemangiomas, are cherry red papules on the skin containing an abnormal proliferation of blood vessels. They are the most common kind of angioma. They are also called senile angiomas or Campbell de Morgan spots, after the nineteenth-century British surgeon Campbell De Morgan who first noted and described them.
The frequency of cherry angiomas increases with age.
Contents |
Characteristics
Cherry angiomas are made up of clusters of tiny capillaries at the surface of the skin, forming a small round dome ("papule"), which may be flat topped. They range in colour from bright red to purple. When they first develop, they may be only a tenth of a millimeter in diameter and almost flat, appearing as small red dots. However, they then usually grow to about one or two millimeters across, and sometimes to a centimeter or more in diameter. As they grow larger, they tend to expand in thickness, and may take on the raised and rounded shape of a dome. Multiple adjoining angiomas are said to form a polypoid angioma. Because the blood vessels comprising an angioma are so close to the skin's surface, cherry angiomas may bleed profusely if they are injured.
Cause
Cherry angiomas appear spontaneously in many people in middle age but can also, although less common, occur in young people. They can also occur in an aggressive eruptive manner in any age. The underlying cause for the development of cherry angiomas is far from understood, much because of a lack of interest in the subject. This is probably due to the fact that they very rarely are caused by an internal malignancy. Exposure to chemicals and compounds that have been seen to cause cherry angiomas are mustard gas1234, 2-butoxyethanol5, bromides6 and cyclosporine.7 A correlation has been seen between cherry hemangiomas and activity of the enzyme carbonic anhydrase8 as well as a significant increase in the density of mast cells in cherry hemangiomas compared to normal skin.9
Treatment
On the rare occasions that they require removal, traditionally cryosurgery or electrosurgery have been used.10 More recently pulsed dye laser or Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) treatment has also been used.1112
Prognosis
In most patients, the number and size of cherry angiomas increases with advancing age. They are harmless, except in very rare cases that involve a sudden appearance of many angiomas, which can be a sign of a developing internal malignancy.
Epidemiology
Cherry angiomas occur in all races, all ethnic backgrounds, and both sexes.
References
- ^ Eruptive melanocytic nevi and cherry angiomas secondary to exposure to sulfur mustard gas. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10188695
- ^ Delayed complications of sulfur mustard poisoning in the skin and the immune system of Iranian veterans 16-20 years after exposure. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16961503
- ^ Eruptive cherry angiomas associated with vitiligo: provoked by topical nitrogen mustard? http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17169094
- ^ Mustard gas scarring with specific pigmentary, trophic and vascular charactristics (case report, 16-year post-exposure). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17382390
- ^ Eruptive cherry angiomas and irritant symptoms after one acute exposure to the glycol ether solvent 2-butoxyethanol. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9871882
- ^ Cherry angiomas associated with exposure to bromides. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11244231
- ^ Eruptive Angiomas After Treatment With Cyclosporine in a Patient With Psoriasis http://archderm.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/extract/134/11/1487
- ^ Carbonic anhydrase is abundant in fenestrated capillaries of cherry hemangioma. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7908484
- ^ Mast cell "densities" in vascular proliferations: a preliminary study of pyogenic granuloma, portwine stain, cavernous hemangioma, cherry angioma, Kaposi's sarcoma, and malignant hemangioendothelioma. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10535252
- ^ Aversa AJ, Miller OF (1983). "Cryo-curettage of cherry angiomas". The Journal of dermatologic surgery and oncology 9 (11): 930–1. PMID 6630708.
- ^ Dawn G, Gupta G (2003). "Comparison of potassium titanyl phosphate vascular laser and hyfrecator in the treatment of vascular spiders and cherry angiomas". Clin. Exp. Dermatol. 28 (6): 581–3. doi:. PMID 14616818.
- ^ Fodor L, Ramon Y, Fodor A, Carmi N, Peled IJ, Ullmann Y (2006). "A side-by-side prospective study of intense pulsed light and Nd:YAG laser treatment for vascular lesions". Annals of plastic surgery 56 (2): 164–70. doi:. PMID 16432325.
External links
- Netdoctor UK Dr John Pillinger. GP
- HealthScout
- FPNotebook
- MedSapiens
- eMedicine with picture showing small red dots
- Cherry hemangioma in the scalp
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 30 November 2008, at 01:20.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Cherry angioma".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.