[A clinical study of Timolol Maleate Eye Drops for the treatment of superficial infantile hemangiomas].

OBJECTIVE: To dicuss the clinical efficacy of Timolol Maleate Eye Drops in the treatment of superficial infantile hemangiomas. Methods From April 2012 to May 2014, 210 patients with superficial infantile hemangiomas were included. According to the parents' choice, a total of 176 cases were treated with Timolol Maleate Eye Drops as the treatment group, and the 34 cases who received the treatment of "wait and see" was included in the control group. In the treatment group, the gauzes were dipped into the eye drops and putted evenly on the surface of the hemangioma, 3-4 times daily and lasted for more than 20 minutes. The gauze should completely cover the surface of the tumor. The follow-up periods were 3 weeks and 6 months after treatment with the pictures to record the treatment effect. The therapeutic effect was graded as: grade I (unable to control the growth of the hemangioma), II (the growth of the hemangioma stagnated), III (hemangioma significantly subsided), IV (the hemangioma completely disappeared). The effective rate included the cases with grade II and above grade II . The cure cases included the cases with grade IV. The data was analyzed with the statistical software SPSS 17.0 and the Chi-square test (P < 0.05).

RESULTS: 3 cases in the treatment group showed eczema action. Tumor ulcer happened in 1 case in treatment group. The side effect rate was 2.3% . The results at 3 weeks following in the treatment group showed that the growth of the hemangioma were stagnated in 154 cases. The color of hemangioma became darker in different degrees than before, and the texture of the hemangioma became soft in majority of children, and the thickness of hemangioma became thinner in some cases. However, only 4 cases showed the hemangiomas were subsided, 18 cases showed the color of the part of the hemangiomas were brighter than before, and 12 cases of the hemangiomas remained original state in the control group. The results of 6 weeks following the treatment showed that 18 patients in the treatment group reached the standard of the grade IV, 84 patients reached the standard of the grade III, 60 patients achieved in the standard of grade II, and only 14 patients showed the volume of hemangiomas were increased as grade I. The effective rate was 58. 0% , and the cure rate was 10. 2% in treatment group. In control group, no children reached the standard of the grade IV, 4 cases reached the standard of grade III, 13 cases who remained original state reached the standard of grade II, and 17 cases showed the volume of hemangiomas continued to increase as grade I . The effective rate was 11. 8% , and the cure rate was 0. By comparison, the effective rate and the cure rate in the control group were relatively lower than those in the treatment group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: The efficacy of Timolol Maleate Eye Drops in the treatment of superficial infantile hemangioma is exact, especially in the proliferative phase of the infantile hemangioma. It is safe and easy to perform with mild side effect. It should be selected as first-line treatment.