Application of Doppler ultrasonography in congenital vascular lesions of the head and neck.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the value of Doppler ultrasonography in the assessment of congenital vascular lesions of the maxillofacial region. METHODS: 27 new patients with 36 congenital vascular lesions in the maxillofacial region as well as 10 patients previously treated with cryotherapy underwent ultrasonography (US) with a 6.0-10.0 MHz broadband linear transducer (reference Doppler frequency 7.5 MHz). Initial grey-scale US was followed by Color Doppler, Power Doppler and spectral Doppler studies. The presence or absence of flow was noted. In areas of high vascularity the number of vessels within a 1 cm(2) restricted region of interest were increased by spectral Doppler. RESULTS: US allowed differentiation of seven hemangiomas from other congenital vascular lesions and thus appropriate treatment of patients. Low flow vessels were demonstrated within the scars of five lesions previously treated with cryotherapy, requiring further intervention. CONCLUSION: Doppler US is a widely available, non-invasive and relatively inexpensive technique which can be used to characterize the flow of head and neck vascular anomalies and thus differentiate hemangiomas from other vascular malformations.

[Statistical evaluation of cryotherapy methods in 277 cases of hemangioma]. / Ocena statystyczna metody krioterapii w 277 przypadkach naczyniaków krwionosnych.

A group of 277 patients with various types of hemangioma treated in the Clinic of Dental and Maxillofacial Surgery of the Lublin Medical Academy between 1983 and 1993 were statistically evaluated. In the presented material it was found that vascular lesions occur more frequently in females. The age of patients reporting for therapy did not exceed 1 year. The number of cryotherapeutic treatments performed depended on the size of the lesion.