Vascular anomalies

Abstract

Most vascular anomalies involve the skin, the largest, most visible organ of the body, and therefore are noted at birth. For centuries, vascular birthmarks were referred to by vernacular names derived from folk beliefs that a mother's emotions or patterns of ingestion could indelibly imprint her unborn fetus. The present day use of such terms as cherry, port wine stain, and strawberry can be referenced to this false doctrine of maternal impressions.1 Virchow may be credited with the first effort to categorize vascular anomalies on the basis of histologic features, breaking them down into three principal categories: angioma simplex, angioma caverno-sum, or angioma racemosum.2 While these more formal terms attempted a more microanatomic-based classifi cation of vascular lesions, the lack of specifi city or identifying features perpetuated the confusion over vascular anomalies well into the late twentieth century. Today, vascular anomalies may be separated into two major categories: tumors and malformations. While this distinction is clinically and heuristically useful, there are some anomalies that appear to span both categories. Progress in understanding the biology and pathogenesis of these lesions will facilitate a more comprehensive molecular classifi cation of this diverse collection in the future. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.