Vascular Anomalies of the Maxillofacial Region: Diagnosis and Management

Vascular anomalies are heterogeneous group of congenital lesions of abnormal vascular devel‐ opment and may occur anywhere on the body. There is a primary distinction between a vascu‐ lar tumor, which grows by cellular hyperplasia, and a vascular malformation, which represents a localized defect in vascular morphogenesis. Due to the differences in biologic be‐ havior and radiographic features, malformations are further subdivided into low-flow and high-flow lesions [1]. The common characteristic feature of all vascular anomalies is extreme bleeding during surgical excision. Clinicians throughout the world use the classification by Mulliken and Glowacki (1982) to classify these lesions. This classification is based on the vascu‐ lar lesion's histology, biological behavior and clinical findings [2]. Some of the lesions cause es‐ thetic problems, while some of them are malignant; thus, the therapeutic approach is variable.