Cherry hemangiomas are common benign cutaneous vascular proliferations. They are also known as cherry angiomas, adult hemangiomas, or senile angiomas as their number tends to increase with age. They were named Campbell De Morgan spots, after the name of a surgeon who worked at Middlesex hospital from 1842 to 1875. According to the current classification by the International Society for Vascular Anomalies (ISSVA) for benign vascular tumors, cherry hemangiomas are not included although they have distinct clinical and histopathological features and are highly prevalent in adults.
In the international literature, Campbell De Morgan spots have variously been known as senile angiomas, angioma eruption, angioma tuberosum, senile ectasia, angioma nodulare cutis, perles sanguines, ruby spots, and cancerodermes. Although De Morgan (1811 to 1876) associated these spots with the presence of cancer, this is not a common finding.
According to light and electron microscopic study of telangiectasia, cherry hemangiomas are a type of papular telangiectasia. These true capillary hemangiomas consist of newly formed capillaries that have narrow lumens and prominent endothelial cells that are arranged in a lobular pattern in the papillary dermis. Cherry hemangiomas generally appear as multiple spots, 1 to 5 mm in size, bright red, and dome-shaped papules mostly on the trunk or upper limbs and rarely on hands, feet, and face.
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