Vascular malformations refers to a condition that affects your vascular system, which consists of the arteries, veins, and vessels that transport blood throughout your body. Normally, each of these vessels, veins, and arteries are smooth and straightforward. However, someone with a vascular malformation can have tangled, jumbled, curved, enlarged, and other deformities in their vessels, veins and arteries.
The dangerous part about vascular malformations is that they affect how blood flows throughout the body. This could lead to inadequate blood flow to certain parts of the body or too much blood flow to others. The most serious risk is when blood flow is impeded to the brain, heart, spine, and other major organs and systems.
Vascular formations start in unborn foetuses and are present at birth. They will not correct on their own and will require medical intervention. Because of the potentially life-threatening complications that can result from vascular malformations, having them diagnosed and corrected as early as possible is important.
The exact treatment that gets used to treat vascular malformations depends on what type of malformation you have, how dangerous it is, and your overall condition.
However, embolization is one of the most common treatments used for a wide range of vascular malformations. Embolization is a treatment where your surgeon blocks an irregular vessel using glue or a catheter. The goal of an embolization is not to correct the deformed vessel but to close it altogether.
Embolization’s are a preferred treatment because they are minimally invasive and will not cause any scarring. Additionally, very little sedation is necessary to perform an embolization, which minimizes the risk of reacting negatively to anaesthesia.
Sclerotherapy is another popular treatment used for vascular malformations. As with embolization, the goal of sclerotherapy is to block the deformed vessel to terminate blood flow. However, unlike embolization, sclerotherapy works by injecting a substance through the skin near the deformed vessel wall.
The substance irritates the vessel wall and forces it to expand and block the flow of blood. This, in turn, produces inflammation until the malformation is completely gone. Once the malformation is gone, scar tissue is created through a process known as sclerosis, hence the name sclerotherapy. This treatment is typically used with venous and lymphatic malformations.
If you have a superficial venous malformation, there is a good chance that laser therapy can be an effective treatment. Laser therapy is where a doctor uses high-powered lasers that can penetrate the skin and infiltrate the vascular malformation below. The heat of the laser closes off the malformation and terminates blood flow through the deformed vessel.
Laser therapy is only effective on very small malformations and on superficial malformations. Additionally, it cannot always completely fix the malformation, but it typically helps improve the symptoms it causes.
Radiation therapy is most often associated with cancer treatment. However, the intense energy and radiation used in radiation therapy can also be used to close off vascular malformations. The energy is focused on the malformation and slowly shrinks it until it closes off completely.
As you can see, there are several great treatments available for vascular malformations. The treatment that your doctor uses will depend on the type of malformation and how severe it is. Additionally, there are some vascular malformations that are incurable, so your doctor may focus on minimizing potential symptoms. Either way, as long as vascular malformations are diagnosed early on, they can be treated so that they do not detrimentally affect you.