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These birthmarks are made up of blood vessels that are in the just skin, just under the skin or buried deep in muscle or fat. They usually appear in children at birth or shortly afterwards. They  may ulcerate, bleed affect growth and function if they grow around ears, eyes nose or mouth and may cause pain. There are several different types; some which grow quickly and then slowly reduce in size like the strawberry naevus (haemangioma) and some which just grow with the child but may change in size due to changes within the blood vessels. Some need fairly intensive treatment from early on whereas others never cause any significant problems.

Mr MacKenzie has a particular interest in these birthmarks and sees them in his general children and adult clinics. He has regular meetings with Dr Mladen Macanovic (interventional radiology) to discuss how to manage individual patients in order to decide the best way to treat them.

There are many ways of treating them including medication, laser, sclerotherapy and surgery. Dr Macanovic has extensive experience of treating some of these with sclerotherapy which involves injecting them them to stop blood flowing through the blood vessels.