Infantile hemangiomas and lymphatic malformations (LM) are vascular anomalies that otolaryngologists-head and neck surgeons often encounter in their practices. Infantile hemangiomas and LMs differ from one another in prevalence, etiology, and clinical presentation, but both may be undergoing potential shifts in treatment, depending on research outcomes.
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June 2009Appropriate classification of vascular anomalies is integral to their successful management, said Nancy M. Bauman, MD, Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC.
The International Society for the Study of Vascular Anomalies (ISSVA) adopted the classification scheme proposed by John Mulliken and Julie Glowacki in 1996, recognizing vascular tumors as lesions with endothelial cell hyperplasia, or hemangiomas, and vascular malformations as lesions arising due to dysmorphogenesis, or LMs (see table).