Congenital lymphatic malformations

Vascular anomalies represents a spectrum of vascular lesions, of unclear etiology and often with unpredictable behavior. Patients with vascular anomalies represent a unique population, in that they have focal aberrations of vascular development (in vascular malformations) or vascular proliferation (in hemangiomas). The etiology of these disorders is unclear, and likely represents a multifactorial process. Vascular anomalies are an attractive model for the study of human disorders of vasculogenesis (development of the vasculature) and angiogenesis (new vessel growth from existing vessels).