Pallor sign: an indicator of hemangioma in evolution

The typical presentation of infantile hemangioma is well known and is easily recognizable. However, it may have many atypical presentations, as reported in the literature. Most of the hemangiomas are not visible at birth and become apparent at about 3 to 4 weeks of age. There are very few case reports of hemangioma presenting as a pale patch in the dermatology literature, and none of them describe the etiopathogenesis of this presentation and its clinical implications.

We report a case of an infantile hemangioma with a trichrome presentation: an erythematous oval patch with a dark red macule at the periphery enclosed by a hypopigmented halo. A brief description of the etiopathogenesis of the pallor sign is also given.