What are vascular malformations and how are they treated?

Vascular malformations are developmental malformations, not true tumors, due to malformations in the development of blood vessels that appear dilated and tortuous, or short circuits between arteries and veins. These diseases used to be called hemangiomas. However, in 1982, Mulliken et al. studied the biological behavior and characteristics of these disorders and developed a new understanding of them. These diseases are now clinically categorized as venous malformations, arteriovenous malformations, capillary malformations, etc. These diseases are vascular pathologies, venous malformations being the most common in clinical practice, followed by capillary malformations, and arteriovenous malformations, which are rare, but are the most difficult to treat. There are many ways of treating venous malformations, and the experience of individual doctors varies, so there is not yet a fully standardized treatment protocol. Some of the treatments currently used are: sclerotherapy, surgery, laser therapy, cryotherapy, and others. Arteriovenous malformations are generally treated with intervention followed by plastic surgery. Capillary malformations are mainly treated with laser therapy.