BIRTHMARKS
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Skin angiomas, also called vascular (pertaining
to vessel) nevi (marks), are composed of blood vessels (hemangiomas)
or lymph vessels (lymphangiomas), that lie beneath the skin's
surface. Hemangiomas, composed of clusters of cells that line the
capillaries, the body's smallest blood vessels, are found on the
face and neck (60%), trunk (25%), or the arms and legs (15%).
Congenital hemangiomas, 90% of which appear at birth or within the
first month of life, grow quickly, and disappear over time. They are
found in 1-10% of full-term infants, and 25% of premature infants.
About 65% are capillary hemangiomas (strawberry marks), 15% are
cavernous (deep) hemangiomas, and the rest are mixtures. Hemangiomas
are three times more common in girls. Usually, only one hemangioma
is found, in 20% two are found, while fewer than 5% have three or
more. Lymphangiomas are skin bumps caused by enlarged lymph vessels
anywhere on the body.
Vascular malformations are poorly formed blood or lymph vessels that
appear at birth or later in life. One type, the salmon patch (nevus
simplex), a pink mark composed of dilated capillaries, is found on
the back of the neck (also called a stork bite) in 40% of newborns,
and on the forehead and eyelids (also called an angel's kiss) in
20%. Stork bites are found in 70% of white and 60% of black
newborns.
Found in fewer than 1% of newborns, port-wine stains (nevus
flammeus), are vascular malformations composed of dilated
capillaries in the upper and lower layers of the skin of the face,
neck, arms, and legs. Often permanent, these flat pink to red marks
develop into dark purple bumpy areas in later life; 85% appear on
only one side of the body.
Acquired hemangiomas include spider angiomas (nevus araneus),
commonly known as spider veins, and cherry angiomas (senile angiomas
or Campbell de Morgan spots). Found around the eyes, cheekbones,
arms, and legs, spider angiomas are red marks formed from dilated
blood vessels. They occur during pregnancy in 70% of white women and
10% of black women, in alcoholics and liver disease patients, and in
50% of children. Cherry angiomas, dilated capillaries found mainly
on the trunk, appear in the 30s, and multiply with aging. |
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