Human blood vessels are composed of arteries, veins, lymphatic vessels, and countless capillaries that connect arteries and veins and deliver nutrients and oxygen to the tissue.
Congenital vascular malformations occur when primitive blood vessels fail to mature in the embryonic stage and remain undeveloped, increasing the number of vessels or expanding themselves abnormally. This condition might not be noticed at birth or may remain asymptomatic while the lesions usually become larger as the patients grow. They can also grow due to injuries, pubertal or gestational changes in hormones, or surgery.
Many cases of vascular malformations are misdiagnosed as hemangioma at the first examination. While hemangiomas disappear over time with no need for treatment, vascular malformations do not disappear naturally, become larger as the patients grow, and require treatment when the symptoms appear. Seeming quite similar, the two conditions, however, have different progresses and require different treatments. Therefore, it is important that the patients receive thorough tests to guarantee a correct diagnosis and an effective treatment.