Abstract
Background
Infantile haemangiomas (IH) are common vascular tumours of infancy that can have significant complications. The IH European Task Force developed the IH Referral Score (IHReS) to help non-specialists quickly identify IH that need to be referred to optimise outcomes in high-risk lesions.
Aims
The aim of this study was to assess the quality of IH referrals to a national care centre and compare the IH referred to the IHReS tool.
Methods
This was a retrospective cross-sectional study that collected data from a random sample of 56 IH patients over a 13-month period.
Results
Less than 10% included a photograph (8.93%) and a minority of referrals included if there were complications including ulceration (1.79%) or function threatening (8.93%). Three-quarters of patients satisfied the IHReS criteria.
Conclusion
The IHReS screening tool is a convenient and efficient resource for non-experts to identify children who require referral to a specialist centre.
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Data availability
The data underlying this article will be shared on reasonable request to the corresponding 24 author.
References
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Funding
The work of N.F. on this project was facilitated by the Irish INE‐NDTP Academic Track Internship programme.
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Data used in this project received an exemption from full ethical review for research study and was granted approval from the University College of Dublin School of Medicine UTMREC-SM under reference number UTMREC-SM-E-PG-20–2-Fagan-Carroll.
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The authors declare no competing interests.
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Fagan, N., Nic Dhonncha, E. & Sadlier, M. A retrospective analysis of infantile haemangioma referrals: a comparison with the IH European Task Force ‘Infantile Haemangioma Referral Score’. Ir J Med Sci 193, 1291–1293 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-023-03556-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-023-03556-7