What You Should Know about Venous Malformations

• A venous malformation (VM) is a result from abnormally developed veins.
• A VM may appear at birth but often does not appear until later in life.
• A venous malformation is sensitive, and painful. They are often problematic for the patient.
• The appearance of a VM is often a “swelling” in appearance with a blue discoloration.
• Some VM appear on the surface of the skin, these are called superficial malformations. Other lesion may be under the surface of the skin and are called
deep malformations.
• VM often grow over time and do not regress.
• Unless there are complications the VM can be managed with compression, using a compression garment.
• If the VM is complicated with complications treatment may include sclerotherapy, laser treatment, embolization and surgical treatment.

A venous malformation is formed by abnormally developed venin that are often enlarged and do not work properly. A VM may occur anywhere in the body including muscles, skin, soft tissue and even internal organs. A VM can be localized or diffuse, they may occur in more than one part of the body. They may contain deep veins and superficial/small veins and may be a combination of both type of veins.

A VM may be compressed or expand, during growth, exercise, emotion, pregnancy, puberty, trauma, or surgery.

The cause of a VM is not known. The lesion is often caused in the abnormal development of veins during fetal development. In rare cases the VM has been found to have a genetic change in a TIE-2 gene. A VM is not caused by medications, or environmental factors during pregnancy.

Venous Malformation are present at birth but may not be identified until adolescence and adulthood.