Which benign vascular tumor of infancy is most commonly capillary in type and typically regresses by early childhood?

• A. Capillary hemangioma
• B. Cavernous hemangioma
• C. Lymphangioma
• D. Progenic Granuloma

Answer: (A)

Infantile capillary hemangiomas are the most common benign vascular tumors in infants. They typically appear after birth, go through a rapid proliferative phase where capillary-sized vessels predominate, and then slowly involute over the first few years of life, often resolving by early childhood. This involution is the hallmark that sets capillary infantile hemangiomas apart from other vascular lesions. Cavernous hemangiomas involve larger, deeper vascular spaces and are less likely to regress completely. Lymphangiomas are lymphatic malformations rather than blood vessel tumors and don’t follow the same spontaneous involution pattern. Pyogenic granuloma is a reactive, lobular capillary lesion usually related to trauma and not an infantile lesion that reliably regresses in childhood. So the lesion that is most commonly capillary and regresses by early childhood is the capillary infantile hemangioma.