Soft-tissue hemangiomas in infants and children: diagnosis using Doppler sonography.

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Abstract
We describe the sonographic appearance and vascularization of hemangiomas and determine if vessel density and peak systolic Doppler shifts distinguish hemangiomas from other superficial soft-tissue masses.Our pilot study included 20 infants and children with hemangiomas who were to undergo biopsy before treatment with interferon alpha-2b. We used Doppler sonography to determine the number of vessels per square centimeter, peak arterial Doppler shift, resistive index, and signs of arteriovenous shunting. All hemangiomas showed high vessel density (more than five per square centimeter) and high Doppler shifts (more than 2 kHz), and these two factors became our diagnostic criteria. A prospective study of 116 patients was then carried out. One hundred sixteen consecutive pediatric patients with superficial soft-tissue masses were examined using Doppler sonography; sonographic findings were compared with the final diagnoses that were established by biopsy, CT, or clinical follow-up.The final diagnoses included...