Quantcast This image displays a spider angioma. A spider angioma is a dilated, small capillary. Spider angiomas are bright red, flat, and easily blanch when you press your finger on them. This image displays a typical spider angioma. This image displays two spider angiomas on the upper lip. This flat spider angioma demonstrates why it is often called a "spider," with tiny blood vessels radiating out from a central larger blood vessel. Spider angiomas are usually deep red but will fade easily when you press on the lesion with your finger.
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Spider Angioma:
A parent's guide to condition and treatment information

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Picture of Spider Angioma: This image displays a spider angioma. Divider line
This image displays a spider angioma.
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Treatments Your Physician May Prescribe
The diagnosis of a spider angioma is usually easy to make, but some lesions may not be obvious and may require a skin biopsy to confirm the diagnosis. The biopsy procedure involves:
  1. Numbing the skin with an injectable anesthetic.
  2. Sampling a small piece of skin by using a flexible razor blade, a scalpel, or a tiny cookie cutter (called a "punch biopsy"). If a punch biopsy is taken, a stitch (suture) or two may be placed and will need to be removed 6–14 days later.
  3. Having the skin sample examined under the microscope by a specially trained physician (dermatopathologist).
If the diagnosis of spider angioma has been confirmed, no treatment is necessary. However, if your child is self-conscious about the area or if it frequently bleeds, the doctor may offer one of the following procedures:
  • Burning with an electric needle (electrocautery or electrodesiccation)
  • Using a laser to destroy the central blood vessel
Last Modified: 18 Oct 2007

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