Effects of Propranolol on Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Patients with Infantile Hemangioma: A Case-Control Study

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to examine whether oral propranolol has any effect on neurodevelopment outcomes in young children with problematic infantile hemangiomas (IHs). METHODS: Thirty-six children with a diagnosis of problematic IH who were treated with oral propranolol were compared with 34 healthy children with no history of propranolol therapy. Patients received propranolol therapy for at least 3 months. Gesell developmental schedules (GDS) were used to evaluate neurodevelopment outcomes in the two groups. The scores of each GDS domain were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in developmental quotient (DQ) values for any of the five domains between the patients and healthy controls (P < 0.05). Multiple stepwise regression analyses showed that none of the domains in the control group were influenced by the children's gender or age (P < 0.05). In addition, we found that gender, age at the initiation of therapy, age at the time of the neurodevelopment test, and treatment duration had no effect on any domain of the GDS in the patient group (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Propranolol has no obvious effect on neurodevelopmental outcomes in children. Early treatment and treatment duration had no negative effect on central nervous system (CNS) development.