Vol.96 No.8 contentsPRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA
Vol. 96 No.8 August 2003
A Report of a Case; Arteriovenous Malformation of the Neck
Kyoichi Terao, Masahiro Ishikawa, Keisuke Urano,
Kazunori Mori and Kiyotaka Murata
(Kinki University School of Medicine)
We herein report our findings in a 4-year-old male with arteriovenous malformation of the neck. The chief complaint was a neck mass which had progressed in size slowly from 2 months before. Physical examination revealed a non-pulsatile, painless and soft mass approximately 4 cm in diameter under the left submandibular area. The diagnosis of lymphangioma cysticum was made based on imaging findings of polycystic lesion on ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Since the mass adhered to the submandibular gland very strongly, we performed en-block resection of the mass with the submandibular gland. The mass showed no adherence to the adjacent tissue without submandibular gland. The framework was filled with numerous arterial and venous structures, and the histopathological diagnosis was arteriovenous malformation. He left hospital without any problem on postoperative day 7. The treatment for subclinical arteriovenous malformation is regarded as to watch and see. Although the curative treatment is surgical resection, the resection of a bulky mass which may cause dyspnea is very difficult. Our patient could not be diagnosed preoperatively because he did not undergo gadolinium enhanced MRI.
Key words : rteriovenous malformation of the neck, polycystic lesion, gadolinium enhanced MRI