[Superficial cervicocerebral angiomas. Should complementary tests be required?].

A computer-assisted study of 772 patients with haemangiomas and vascular malformations was conducted during a 2-year period with special attention to complications and associated anomalies, such as laryngeal, meningeal or cerebral vascular malformations. We report here the data obtained from 397 of these patients totalling 401 superficial haemangiomas and vascular malformations of the head and neck. We classified the lesions into immature angiomas, growing and subsiding during childhood, and mature vascular malformations with a life-long development, themselves divided into arteriovenous, capillary and venous malformations. We found that each group had its own specific complications. Severe complications, notably vascular brain lesions, were eventually observed in patients with superficial arteriovenous malformations of the head. Extensive complementary investigations, including CT scans and arteriography, are therefore not justified in every case. Guidelines are offered to evaluate the risk according to the clinical diagnosis.