Treatment outcomes of oral propranolol in the treatment of periocular infantile capillary hemangioma and factors predictive of recurrence and incomplete resolution: A multi-centric study

AIM: This study aims to evaluate the treatment outcomes of periocular capillary hemangioma with oral propranolol (OP) and list the factors predictive of recurrence and incomplete resolution after treatment. METHODOLOGY: Data were collected by retrospective review of medical files of patients with infantile hemangioma (IH) treated with OP during January 2014–December 2019 from two tertiary eye institutes from India. Patients presenting with symptoms of IH with/without any history of prior treatment were included. All patients were started on OP with the dose of 2–2.5 mg/Kg body weight and continued till complete resolution or till the lesion reached a plateau response. Details about the ophthalmic examination at each visit and availability of imaging findings were noted down from the records. Primary outcome: Study the treatment outcome of patients treated with OP and discussed our observations regarding factors that may predict nonresponse, poor response, or recurrence. Secondary outcome: complications/side effects of therapy. Response to treatment was judged as fair, good, and excellent depending on resolution <50%, >50%, and complete resolution, respectively. Univariate analysis of factors related to treatment response was judged as fair, good, and excellent depending on resolution <50%, >50%, outcome and recurrence was studied using Mann–Whitney U test and Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: A total of 28 patients were included in the study, out of which 17 were female and 11 were male. The mean age of onset of the lesion was 1.08 (± 1.484) months, 11 being congenital in origin. The mean age at presentation was 4.15 (± 2.92) months. 46.43% (n = 13) of patients showed complete resolution, while 25% (n = 7) showed more than 50% reduction in lesion size. Fair response was noted in 28.57% (n = 8). The mean duration of follow-up after stopping OP was 17.7 (± 20.774) months. The recurrence rate noted was 14.28%. The factors which were associated with incomplete resolution were age at presentation >3 months, later age of appearance of the lesion, superficial lesions with no orbital involvement. Male gender and congenital lesions responded best to OP therapy. Minor complications were noted with a rate of 25% (n = 7). Younger age at presentation was more commonly associated with complications. CONCLUSION: OP is a safe and effective treatment for capillary hemangioma except for a smaller subset of patients who show suboptimal response to this drug. However, specific factors responsible for suboptimal response or recurrence after OP therapy remain elusive. Although not statistically significant, there was an increasing trend toward higher age at presentation, low birth weight, and superficial lesions with a poorer response. Furthermore, these factors along with the male gender were commonly associated with recurrence in our series. Larger prospective studies focused on evaluating clinical factors responsible for incomplete resolution and recurrence will help in prognosticating and suggesting alternative treatment regimes.