Objective To determine the quality of life (QOL) and self-esteem of children with infantile haemangiomas using objective measures.

Design Twenty-one children, 5–8 years old, with a diagnosis of head or neck haemangioma measuring 2 cm or more, were compared with 22 children with no history of haemangioma.

Setting A tertiary medical centre in the north of Israel.

Interventions Demographic and clinical details were collected, followed by two questionnaires—Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) and Harter pictorial scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for young children—answered by children and parents of the two groups.

Main outcome measures QOL and self-esteem of the children in the two groups.

Results There were no significant differences in QOL indices or self-perception scores between children with and without haemangioma (86.6±10.3 vs 80.1±15.07, p=0.23 and 3.62±0.2 vs 3.72±0.21, p=0.17, respectively). Interestingly, parents of children with haemangioma reported higher QOL of their children than parents of children without haemangioma (86.4±9.6 vs 77.1±14.9, p<0.03). Likewise, a positive correlation between parents’ scored PedsQL and children's scored PedsQL was found (0.56, p=0.008).

Conclusions The findings raise a question about aggressive as opposed to more conservative treatment, especially in the era of propranolol.