Ethanol sclerotherapy for the management of craniofacial venous malformations: the interim results.
OBJECTIVE
We wanted to evaluate the safety and feasibility of ethanol sclerotherapy for treating craniofacial venous malformations (CVMs).


METHODS
From May 1998 to April 2007, 87 patients (40 men and 47 women; age range, 2-68 years) with CVMs underwent staged ethanol sclerotherapy (range, 1-21 sessions; median number of sessions, 2) by the direct puncture technique. Clinical follow up (range, 0-120 months; mean follow up, 35 months; median follow up, 28 months) was performed for all the patients. Therapeutic outcomes were established by evaluating the clinical outcome of the signs and symptoms in all patients, as well as the degree of devascularization, which was determined on the follow-up imaging, in 71 patients.


RESULTS
A total of 305 procedures with the use of ethanol were performed in 87 patients. Follow-up imaging studies were performed for 71 of 87 patients. Twenty-three (32%) of the 71 patients showed excellent outcomes, 37 patients (52%) showed good outcomes and 11 patients (16%) showed poor outcomes. Ethanol sclerotherapy was considered effective for 60 patients. All the minor complications such as bulla (n = 5) healed with only wound dressing and observation. Any major complication such as skin necrosis did not develop.


CONCLUSIONS
Percutaneous ethanol sclerotherapy is an effective, safe treatment for CVMs.
Department of Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Gangnam-Gu, Seoul, Korea.
In Ho
IH
Lee
Keon Ha
KH
Kim
Pyoung
P
Jeon
Hong Sik
HS
Byun
Hyung-Jin
HJ
Kim
Sung Tae
ST
Kim
Young Wook
YW
Kim
Dong-Ik
DI
Kim
Joon Young
JY
Choi
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000700:Analgesics / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019465:Craniofacial Abnormalities / Q000628:therapy*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012597:Sclerosing Solutions / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015911:Sclerotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D054079:Vascular Malformations / Q000628:therapy*; D055815:Young Adult
D000700:Analgesics; D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local; D012597:Sclerosing Solutions; D000431:Ethanol