Phleboliths of venous malformation studied with scan electron microscopy. Case report and literature review.

Abstract

Vascular anomalies are classified in two categories, vascular tumors and vascular malformations. Among the latter, venous malformations are the second most common vascular anomalies. In addition to pain and/or increase of volume, venous malformations can lead to phlebolith formation with time. We present the case of a female patient of 17 years of age, with a tumoration of four centimeters of diameter, located in the submentonian region, with nine calcified foci identified by three-dimension reconstruction. The calcifications were studied with scanning electron microscopy, detecting mainly the presence of carbon, oxygen and calcium. Regarding the tissue organization, it was possible to observe the development of filamentous aggregates of carbon macroparticles. As an important part of the evaluation for diagnostics and for the treatment of vascular anomalies, it is necessary to do a complete clinical history, and the clinic evaluation of the lesion should be complemented with imagenology studies. This will allow identification of the size and extension of the lesion and the presence of calcifications, which must be considered as a presumptuous diagnosis to vascular lesion. Key words:Vascular anomalies, vascular tumors, vascular malformations, phlebolith.