Volumetric assessment of results of treatment of vascular malformations of the head and neck regions treated with a minimally invasive surgical technique after embolization procedure.

Treatment of large soft tissue vascular lesions, one of the greatest challenges facing plastic surgeons, is patient specific in almost all cases, and preoperative angiographic evaluation and embolization of these lesions are standards of care. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of 3-dimensional demonstration and volumetric assessment of soft tissue vascular lesions both in the treatment of these lesions with curettage and in the participation of the patients to the decision-making process of the disease. Five patients with vascular malformation of the head and neck regions were included to this prospective trial. All patients were evaluated with preoperative angiography, and selective embolizations of the soft tissue vascular lesions were done in the same session by the same interventional radiologists. The amount of embolic agent injected was determined according to the size and vascularization of the lesions. Surgery was done by curettage of the embolized lesions 7 to 10 days after the embolization procedure. The raw data obtained from preoperative and postoperative high-resolution computed tomographic scans of the patients were processed with a Mimics 9.22 Software (Materialise's Interactive Medical Image Control System, Leuven, Belgium). Volume and surface area of the injected embolic agent were assessed. Statistical analysis was performed using the software package SPSS 10.0 for Windows (SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL). Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to compare the measurements of the volume and the surface area of injected sclerosing agent preoperatively and postoperatively. There were no complications related to either the preoperative angiography or embolization procedure. All the patients emphasized (assessed) that the 3-dimensional demonstration of the lesions and their relation with other anatomic structures helped them to understand the extent of their pathology and aim of the proposed treatment. The difference between the volumetric measurements before and after the treatment was found statistically significant. Treatment of large soft tissue vascular lesions with curettage after embolization has acceptable cosmetic results. Although it is not possible to remove all of the sclerosing agent from its injection site with this technique, a significant amount of it can be removed, and the 3-dimensional vascular architecture of the lesion is disturbed. Reactive chronic inflammation against the remaining sclerosing agent and the intralesional scarring caused by curettage lead to further improvement. Using 3-dimensional imaging modalities helps patients and/or their relatives to understand their disease and participate in the decision-making process.