title: Vascular tumors of the abdominal wall.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Vascular tumors of the abdominal wall are rare, benign congenital malformations that may cause pain or cosmetic disfigurement and are of significance for their ability to mimic more clinically aggressive tumors. There have been no previous reports of vascular tumors of the abdominal wall. This investigation reports the clinical presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of three patients with vascular tumors of the abdominal wall.
  
  
  METHODS
  Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) was used to identify feeding and draining vessels and to aid in operative planning for two patients; in a third patient, standard magnetic resonance imaging revealed the feeding vessels.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MRA accurately identified the feeding and draining vessels and aided in operative planning, thus facilitating complete tumor resection. To date, patients have not experienced tumor recurrence.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These cases suggest that MRA can be employed as a noninvasive imaging technique and should be the standard preoperative modality to plan the operative approach to vascular tumors of the abdominal wall.
authors.affiliation: Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, Medical College of Virginia Hospitals, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Stephanie R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Goldberg
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Halvorsen
authors.forename: James P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Neifeld
mesh_terms: D034861:Abdominal Wall; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006391:Hemangioma / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography