English

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Traditionally there has been much debate about vascular lesions being developmental malformations or types of neoplasia. Vascular tumours are believed to result from developmental errors that occur at 4-10 weeks of gestation. Most cases are sporadic. Vascular malformations result from abnormal sized or abnormal number of vascular structures. These malformations usually manifest as cutaneous birthmarks and have had a number of classifications, producing a range of confusing terms. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To study the incidence, classification and spectrum of various vascular lesions in children with a clinicopathological perspective. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The present retrospective study was undertaken at the Department of Pathology, Paediatric Referral Hospital, during the period from June 2009 to May 2011. About 44 patients of the paediatric age group were analysed for clinical details and pathological diagnosis. Vascular lesions were classified histopathologically according to International Society for the Study of Vascular Anomalies (ISSVA) classification broadly into two groups, mainly vascular tumours and malformations. RESULTS: Of the 44 cases reported in our study, vascular lesions were commonly seen in infants. The male to female ratio was 1:2.1. Most common site involved was head and neck region (73%). 39 cases were classified as vascular tumours which included haemangiomas and 5 cases classified as vascular malformations which included lymphangiomas. CONCLUSION: Vascular lesions though clinically diagnosed only as haemangiomas, represent pathologically varied entities. These lesions when present in infants and in functional areas, their precise diagnosis by the pathologists makes a significant difference to the management of these simple looking vascular lesions of the children.