ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the expression and significance of beta-receptor ( p-R) in infantile hemangioma.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The expression of beta-R was detected by immunohistochemistry in infantile hemangioma (40 cases), venous malformation (20 cases) and normal skin (10 cases).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The positive expression rate of beta2-R was 70% (28/40) in infantile hemangioma, while no expression of beta2-R in venous malformation and normal skin. Among 28 cases with positive expression of beta2-R, 24 cases were in proliferative phase. The positive expression of beta2-R in infantile hemangioma was significantly higher than that in venous malformation and normal skin tissue. The positive expression of beta2-R in the proliferative hemangioma and non-proliferative hemangioma was also significantly different (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>beta2-R is specifically expressed in infantile hemangioma, especially in proliferative hemangioma.</p>