Department of Hand, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Burn Center, BG Trauma Center Ludwigshafen, Hand and Plastic Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Ludwigshafen, Germany.
Department for Statistical Analysis, University Medical Center Mannheim, Faculty of Clinical Medicine Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Ludwigshafen, Germany.
Acta Radiol. 2024 Jan;65(1):145-151. doi: 10.1177/02841851231196872. Epub 2023 Sep 24.
Vascular malformations are rare diseases that should be treated in dedicated vascular anomaly centers (VAC). There is only a small amount of data on the diagnostic and therapeutic handling of these patients, before they are referred to a VAC.
To demonstrate the disease-specific patient characteristics in a German VAC, which are required to determine diagnostic and therapeutic steps.
In a retrospective study, all patients who were treated in the VAC from April 2014 until August 2021 were identified. In total, 593 patients were included in this study.
Almost all patients had previously consulted a physician (591/593, 99.7%). A mean of two different physicians had been consulted (range 0-10). Patients with more complex, syndromal vascular malformations had significantly more previous appointments ( = 0.0018). In only 44% (261/593) of patients, the referral diagnosis was made correctly. Most patients had been previously treated for their vascular anomaly: pharmacotherapy (n = 130; 21.9%), compression garments (n = 141; 23.8%), surgical resection (n = 80; 17.3%) and sclerotherapy (n = 68; 11.5%). Fifty-two patients who had been falsely diagnosed had also received therapy prior to their referral to the VAC (8.8%). Most patients received an ultrasound examination in the VAC (n = 464; 78.2%). Most frequently, compression therapy was prescribed (n = 256; 43.2%), followed by sclerotherapy (n = 175, 29.5%) and pharmacotherapy (n = 55; 9.3%).
Patients suffering from vascular anomalies often go through a complicated scheduling with numerous outpatient appointments and have a high risk of misdiagnosis and mistreatment prolonging the medical condition. Therefore, patients with vascular anomalies should be treated in a dedicated vascular anomaly center.
血管畸形是罕见疾病，应在专门的血管异常中心（VAC）进行治疗。在转诊至 VAC 之前，仅有少量关于这些患者的诊断和治疗处理的数据。
展示德国 VAC 中特定于疾病的患者特征，这些特征是确定诊断和治疗步骤所必需的。
在一项回顾性研究中，确定了 2014 年 4 月至 2021 年 8 月期间在 VAC 接受治疗的所有患者。共有 593 名患者纳入本研究。
几乎所有患者之前都咨询过医生（591/593，99.7%）。平均咨询了两位不同的医生（范围 0-10）。患有更复杂的综合征血管畸形的患者就诊次数明显更多（ = 0.0018）。在 44%（261/593）的患者中，转诊诊断是正确的。大多数患者之前曾因血管异常接受过治疗：药物治疗（n = 130；21.9%）、压迫治疗（n = 141；23.8%）、手术切除（n = 80；17.3%）和硬化治疗（n = 68；11.5%）。在转诊至 VAC 之前，52 名误诊患者也接受了治疗（8.8%）。大多数患者在 VAC 中接受了超声检查（n = 464；78.2%）。最常开具的治疗方法是压迫治疗（n = 256；43.2%），其次是硬化治疗（n = 175，29.5%）和药物治疗（n = 55；9.3%）。
患有血管畸形的患者经常经历复杂的就诊安排，有多次门诊就诊，误诊和治疗不当的风险较高，从而延长了疾病的病程。因此，血管畸形患者应在专门的血管异常中心进行治疗。
