How serious are the consequences if the birthmark on the child’s skin?
This 4-year-old girl Xiaoxiao has recently started to experience vaginal bleeding and breast development, which makes parents panic! At first, everyone thought it was "premature puberty", but Xiaoxiao looked at it and was not fat at all. The parents took their daughter to the hospital for examination without any relief.
Results The doctor's words made everyone stunned↓↓↓
This "brown birthmark" on my daughter
is a rare endocrine disorder!
This birthmark actually belongs to " Milk Coffee Spot ", and basically 25% to 30% of children have it! But it usually does not exceed 1.5cm. It will grow on the face or torso, so it is difficult to attract parents' attention.
Image from: Benign pigmented skin lesions other than melanocytic nevi (moles).UpToDate.2020 and: VisualDx.com
Most of the time, it does not affect health, but situations like Xiaoxiao are abnormal genetic syndrome:
, coffee spots large areas are spread: ≥6 coffee spots on the body.
. The diameter of the coffee spot is greater than 1.5cm.
. In addition to coffee spots, there are many nodules or lumps on the child.
Coffee spots that have the above 3 conditions must seek medical attention in time! In addition, there are many types of birthmarks on children. , especially the following birthmark with a high cancer rate, parents should really understand it!
01 has a high cancer coefficient! Melanin mole — Congenital giant mole
Basically everyone has moles on them, especially this pigment mole ! Often the diameter is less than 4-6 mm↓↓↓
. You don’t have to worry about
. But there is a melanin mole that looks very "atmospheric and extruded"! The area can reach the size of a palm, or even larger; it will feel thicker and more protruding to the touch, and even a lot of hair will grow on it...
It is "congenital giant mole" is generally larger than 20 cm in size, mainly distributed in the back half of the trunk. Some people also have their heads or limbs, which may cover large areas of the body's skin. It is usually dark and is also scattered with satellite lesions outside the body. The cancer coefficient of moles like
will be relatively high! And 5%-10% may become melanoma [1].
If you are worried that your mole may be at risk of tumor growth, you can do a self-examination first to see if it has the following five characteristics of "ABCDE" [2].
A: Asymmetric (asymmetric )
is the shape of the mole: whether it is up and down, or left and right. (Imagine that the lesions can be folded up and down or left and right like origami)
B: Border irregularity
, that is, the edges are not rounded arc shape, and a jagged gap appears.
C: Color variation
Normal moles are uniform and single colors, while at-risk moles appear colorful black. For example, in a mole: black, brown, yellow, red, etc....
D: Diameter exceeds 6 mm (diameter)
The diameter of a mole is greater than 0.6 cm, or moles that are obviously grown in the short term should be alert., hemangioma
E: elevation
That is, the surface becomes bulging or the lesion size increases.
In daily life, if melanin moles are found to have the above five ABCDE, it is recommended to go to a local hospital for trauma-free dermoscopy or pathological examination to rule out melanoma.
02 is generally harmless, but it is still necessary to continue to observe
Hemangioma is actually a common childhood tumor, and it is more common in girls. Basically, 2 of 100 newborns will have such birthmarks.
looks like a red mole and bulges on the skin! However, it is a self-limiting disease and may be relieved or resolved by the age of 3. If the following conditions occur, you need to seek medical treatment:
① Hemangioma grows in high-risk areas:
Around the eyes (pressing the eyeball affects vision), face (may cause permanent disfigure), joints (affecting walking), around the mouth or private parts, etc. (repeated friction leads to bleeding infection).
②Rrain is developing:
The number of children under 6 months old has multiple or very large bodies (diameter exceeds 5cm).
③Complications occur: such as: infection pain, etc.
, vitiligo
Vitiligo has a family genetic tendency, and the cause is not clear at present.
Head + neck is the most likely part of children to have vitiligo (31%-59%), especially around the eyes. Other common areas include the back of hands, feet, fingers, knees, elbows, and calves.
Children's eyelids are vitiligo, and their eyelashes turn white [3]
However, it will not affect the growth and development of children. In addition to affecting the appearance, it may also affect the child's psychology, and there is no feeling of physical discomfort. Although
does not affect the normal growth of the baby, once a diagnosis or high suspicion of vitiligo is confirmed, a general examination should be performed to exclude the associated disease. The earlier the treatment, the better.
, wine stains
Wine stains are birthmarks that cause the skin to turn red or purple. It is common on the baby's head + face. As you age, the color will become darker and thicker; the edges are irregular and the pressure will fade.
If it grows near the eyes or forehead and has a large area, be sure to do CT on the brain to see if there are also deformed blood vessels in the skull. In addition, these babies are often accompanied by epilepsy, and repeated attacks can lead to brain hypoxia.
So parents must pay attention to this type of birthmark/mole. If you find any abnormalities, it is best to take your baby to the hospital for treatment in time!
03 The risk of cancer is very low! Don't worry about it if you don't have a big problem
, Mongolian spot:
Mongolian spot is a very common birthmark with an incidence rate of about 86.3%. Parents can rest assured that most children will disappear without leaving any trace when they are 3 to 4 years old.
mostly occurs on the baby's waist, sacral and coccyx and back, and finds a little light gray and dark blue spots. Most of them are mainly round, oval or square, but the realm is not very obvious.
will disappear naturally if it is in childhood, which means it is a good skin change! And so far, no reports of malignant Mongolian spots have appeared. It is worth mentioning that most of these spots are congenital, so they cannot be prevented in advance and can only fade naturally.
, Ota nevus :
Ota nevus may be related to genetics, most commonly in periorbital, temporal, nasal, forehead and zygomatic .
It is very similar to Mongolian spots. It can be gray-blue, blue-gray, gray-brown, black or purple. The spots are unevenly colored, spot-like or mesh-like, and the boundaries are unclear. (Generally, it is brown spots or mesh, while the blue is more diffuse.) The main difference between
is that it cannot disappear on its own, but it rarely changes malignantly and can be improved through professional laser treatment.
, pigment-free nevus :
pigment-free nevus is not as obvious as vitiligo white, the state is blurred and irregular, sometimes the edges are jagged, and there is almost no pigment-proliferation halo around it.
is usually present at the birth of the baby, or within a few months after the baby is born. This is a unilateral, localized hypopigmentation spot. This condition is associated with hypofunction of melanocytes, which can cause local skin tone to lighter than surrounding colors.
This is a benign birthmark and there is no need for treatment. But parents need to pay attention: Because of the pigmentation, this part of the skin will be more sensitive to ultraviolet rays, so pay attention to the sun protection of this part in daily life. (Can block the sun or apply sunscreen)
Finally, I want to tell parents that no matter what kind of birthmark it is, in the process of active treatment, you must also learn to accept and praise your children. Many times, compared to the harm of birthmark itself, the collapse of a child's mentality is a major event that ruins the world!
Reference materials:
[1]Burd A. Laser treatment of congenital melanocytic nevi. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2004;113(7):2232–3.
[2] National Health Commission, Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of melanoma (2022 edition)
[3] Nicolaidou E, Mastraftsi S, Tzanetakou V, Rigopoulos D. Childhood Vitiligo. Am J Clin Dermatol. 2019 Aug;20(4):515-526. doi: 10.1007/s40257-019-00430-0. PMID: 30911977.
