Vascular disorders in metameric precursor of hemangioma.

Abstract

In the literature vascular disorders of the limbs associated with hemangiomas were reported (3). Hemangioma can be associated both with Poland syndrome (11) and the absence or hypoplasia of the carotid artery (9). Recently, Mulliken et Al. (8) described 6 cases of segmental hemangioma of an extremity associated with ulceration resistant to therapies, attributing the ulceration to a proliferating hemangioma, but also in their cases there were artery malformations. We described in the past 3 cases of metameric hemangiomas of the limbs associated with ulcers with clear-cut borders likely arteriopathic (7). The alteration present in many of these cases appears to be ischemia by reduced arterial flow. In these cases it is likely that the hemangioma is not a fortuitous association. It has been speculated that the hemangioma appears after prolonged ischemia and represent then a kind of exaggerated angiogenic response to a hypoxic condition (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10).