Bleomycin sclerotherapy in congenital lymphatic and vascular malformations of head and neck

Abstract

Bleomycin is an established antineoplastic drug, but recently some attempts were made to inject it locally as a sclerosing agent in cases of congenital lymphatic malformations. We present the outcome of this treatment modality tried on 10 paediatric cases of whom 9 had such malformation in the cervical region and one in the parotid region. Seven of these cases had congenital lymphatic malformation while three had haemodynamically less active congenital vascular malformation. All these children were subjected to percutaneous intralesional administration of bleomycin. The size of swelling reduced by 50% or more in seven patients out of which three showed complete or near complete response. There were no major deleterious side effects.