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Paula E. North, MD, PhD; Milton Waner, MD; Adam Mizeracki; Robert E. Mrak, MD, PhD; Richard Nicholas, MD; Jay Kincannon, MD; James Y. Suen, MD; Martin C. Mihm, Jr, MD

Arch Dermatol. 2001;137:559-570.

Background  Juvenile hemangiomas are common, benign tumors, distinctive for their perinatal presentation, rapid growth during the first year of life, and subsequent involution. We recently reported that endothelia of hemangiomas highly express GLUT1, a glucose transporter normally restricted to endothelia with blood-tissue barrier function, as in brain and placenta.

Objective  To investigate possible further similarities between hemangioma and placental vessels.

Design  In a retrospective study of a variety of vascular tumors and anomalies, we assessed lesional immunoreactivities for the placenta-associated vascular antigens FcRII, Lewis Y antigen (LeY), merosin, and GLUT1.

Setting  A university-affiliated pediatric hospital.

Main Outcome Measure  Immunoreactivities scored for each antigen were summarized according to lesional type, compared with those of normal skin, brain, and placenta, and correlated with patient age, sex, and lesional location.

Results  All of 66 hemangiomas (patients aged 22 days to 7 years) showed intense immunoreactivity for FcRII, merosin, LeY, and GLUT1. No immunoreactivities for these markers were seen in any of 26 vascular malformations, 4 granulation tissue specimens, 13 pyogenic granulomas, or in the tumor vasculature of 6 malignant tumors of nonvascular origin. Microvascular immunoreactivity for all 4 markers was observed in placental chorionic villi, but was absent in microvessels of normal skin and subcutis. Brain microvessels expressed only GLUT1 and merosin.

Conclusions  A distinct constellation of tissue-specific markers is uniquely coexpressed by hemangiomas and placental microvessels. These findings imply a unique relationship between hemangioma and the placenta and suggest new hypotheses concerning the origin of these tumors.

From the Departments of Pathology (Drs North and Mrak and Mr Mizeracki), Otolaryngology (Drs Waner and Suen and Mr Mizeracki), Orthopedic Surgery (Dr Nicholas), and Dermatology (Dr Kincannon), University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas Children's Hospital, and the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Little Rock (Dr Mrak); and the Department of Pathology, Harvard University Medical School, and Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston (Dr Mihm).

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