Vascular malformations can be of different types:
- Arterio-venous malformations: Abnormal connections between the arteries and veins.
- Venous malformations: Abnormal tangles and shunting between few veins.
- Veno-lymphatic malformations: Abnormal connections between the veins and lymph vessels.
Vascular malformations may present with pain, a lump under the skin, or swelling in the affected area. Bleeding can occur, which causes brown stains under the skin in superficial malformations. Lymphatic malformations can be secondarily infected, requiring repeated antibiotic treatment. Finally, discoloration of the skin in and around the vascular malformations can be a cosmetic problem.
Treatment:
Arteriovenous malformations are very high flow situations and treated by an angiography-based daycare procedure called endo-vascular embolization, which is performed under local anesthesia.>Venous, lymphatic, and Veno-lymphatic malformations are low flow malformations and treated by locally puncturing the abnormal vessel with a tiny needle and injecting sclerosant foam, which causes fibrosis of the abnormal venous/ lymphatic lesion and substantially shrinks it.
