부산대학교 도서관

Propranolol was introduced as a treatment for infantile hemangiomas (IH). We report a summary of 13 cases of IH treated with propranolol and discuss its effectiveness. In our series, propranolol therapy was initiated at the mean age of 4.1 months (1-8 months), and the mean therapy duration was 15 months (9-20 months). All patients showed good clinical response. Only one patient experienced asymptomatic hypoglycemia as the side effect of the drug. To avoid the side effect, the dose was increased slowly, with a feeding interval of 3 or 4 hours. Under these conditions, hypoglycemia did not recur, which enabled treatment continuation. Propranolol conferred a risk of bronchial constriction that lead to wheezy bronchitis. One patient had wheezy respiration when he contracted a viral infection, during which time he stopped taking propranolol and resumed the treatment after 1 week. She showed no deterioration of bronchial symptoms and could complete the therapy.