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Review
. 2016 Jan 26;8(1):74-80.
doi: 10.4330/wjc.v8.i1.74.

Cardiovascular drugs in the treatment of infantile hemangioma

Israel Fernandez-Pineda  1 , Regan Williams  1 , Lucia Ortega-Laureano  1 , Ryan Jones  1
Affiliations
Review

Cardiovascular drugs in the treatment of infantile hemangioma

Israel Fernandez-Pineda et al. World J Cardiol. .

Abstract

Since the introduction of propranolol in the treatment of complicated infantile hemangiomas (IH) in 2008, other different beta-blockers, including timolol, acetabutolol, nadolol and atenolol, have been successfully used for the same purpose. Various hypotheses including vasoconstriction, inhibition of angiogenesis and the induction of apoptosis in proliferating endothelial cells have been advanced as the potential beta-blocker-induced effect on the accelerated IH involution, although the exact mechanism of action of beta-blockers remains unknown. This has generated an extraordinary interest in IH research and has led to the discovery of the role of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in the biology of IH, providing a plausible explanation for the beta-blocker induced effect on IH involution and the development of new potential indications for RAS drugs such as angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin-receptor blockers in the treatment of IH. This review is focused on the current use of cardiovascular drugs in the treatment of IH.

Keywords: Angiogenesis; Beta-blockers; Infantile hemangioma; Renin-angiotensin system.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Therapeutic algorithm for oral propranolol treatment in infantile hemangioma. BP: Blood pressure; ECG: Electrocardiogram; HR: Heart rate.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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