Vascular malformations

Abstract

As a result of increased knowledge on angiogenesis, vascular anomalies have been separated into tumors and vascular malformations. Vascular malformations, the subject of this review, are classified either by the nature of the vessels (capillary, arterial, venous or lymphatic), type of flow (high or low) or even by distribution (localized or diffuse). Furthermore there are the complex-combined malformations, a feature present in most vascular syndromes. A review of the clinical aspects, diagnosis and treatment of vascular malformations is presented in this paper.