title: Vascular malformations of the head and neck.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Vascular malformations may appear anywhere in the body; 14-65% are in the head and neck. There are several treatments (sclerotherapy, surgery, laser treatment, and embolization, etc.), but standardized guidelines for these treatments are lacking. We conducted a retrospective review of venous or capillary malformations of the head and neck, and analyzed the epidemiology, pathology and treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively reviewed 67 patients with pathologically diagnosed venous or capillary malformations of the head and neck; we analyzed the location, pathology and treatment, as well as recurrent/residual cases.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The oral cavity (59%) and nasal cavity (35%) were the most common locations. The frequency of each pathological type depended upon location. Surgery was undertaken in 65 cases, and sclerotherapy done in one patient. Sixty-one cases (92%) had resectable lesions. However polycystic masses (≥3 cysts) and large masses (diameter, ≥5cm) were significantly difficult to cure by single treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Surgery is indicated for localized small vascular malformations. However if the lesions ≥5cm or polycystic lesions were more likely to recur after surgery alone in our study population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, NTT Medical Center Tokyo, Japan. kenyajp@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Kenya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Kazunari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakao
authors.forename: Sadahiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kishishita
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tamaruya
authors.forename: Hiroko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Monobe
authors.forename: Ken'ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kihara
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001165:Arteriovenous Malformations / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004621:Embolization, Therapeutic; D004724:Endoscopy; D005260:Female; D006257:Head / Q000098:blood supply; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009333:Neck / Q000098:blood supply; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015911:Sclerotherapy; D055815:Young Adult