Sclerotherapy to a large cervicofacial vascular malformation: a case report with 24 years' follow-up.

Background. Large craniofacial venous malformations frequently cause significant cosmetic and functional problems. Treatment of the lesions early in life helps to avoid these problems. We present a case of a large cervicofacial venous malformation. Methods. The patient was treated with a 5% benzyl alcohol solution of sodium morrhuate. The treatment was begun when the patient was 3 months of age, with a total of 23 injections. Results. The lesion had completely disappeared by age 10. No major complications were observed except a superficial tissue loss on the temporal region. It was healed by conservative treatment. There were no recurrences during the 14-year follow-up. Conclusions. It is difficult to conclude that this type of treatment is the best choice for patients with venous malformation on the basis of a single case. However, intralesional sclerotherapy should be kept in mind as a savior treatment option in cases of large venous malformations in anatomic regions that present challenges to both the surgeon and the patient. Intralesional sclerotherapy can be performed without serious complications if the sclerosing agent is selected and injected cautiously. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck27: XXX–XXX, 2005