Hemangioma of the fingers

Fingers often suffer trauma and the clinician is continuously faced with the difficult task of clarifying the distinction between a hemangioma and a traumatic lesion. This study was undertaken to examine ten cases in which a small skin mass located on a finger had been diagnosed preoperatively as hemangioma. Our results showed that seven masses were confirmed pathologically as hemangioma (five cavernous hemangiomas and two capillary hemangiomas), two as traumatic thrombosis and one varix. The clinical manifestations of the two cases of traumatic thrombosis were related to those of hemangioma. In the varix, endothelial proliferation was observed in the area of the thrombosis. This phenomenon is called "intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia", and can confuse the differential diagnosis between a vascular neoplasm and a traumatic thrombosis. Our findings demonstrate that since the traumatic lesions were firmer than the hemangiomas, hardness on physical examination may be a helpful indicator in the differential diagnosis of a hemangioma and a traumatic lesion.