[Diagnosis and therapy on hemangiomas and vascular malformation in view of the new classification]

Vascular birthmarks are the most common disease. The morbidity is about 2.5%, most of the lesions occur in oral and maxillofacial regions which accounts for 40%-60% of the total lesions. In 1982, Mulliken and Glowacki proposed a biologic classification of vascular birthmarks on the basis of their clinical manifestations, histopathological features, and natural history. They defined hemangiomas as vascular tumors with a growth phase, marked by endothelial proliferation and hypercellularity, and an involutional phase. They recognized that many entities referred to as hemangiomas are actually structural malformations of the vasculature, derived from capillaries, veins, lymph vessels, or arteries or from a combination of these sources. The classification was confirmed and issued by International Society for the study of vascular anomaly (ISSVA) in 1988. Waner and Suen amended the above category in 1995. This paper presents the new classification of vascular birthmarks and the developments in this field in recent years, including the pathology, clinical features and the therapy. For example, the classification of venular malformation categorized by Waner in 1989; the classification of lymphous malformation by Waner and Suen in 1995; and the treatments according to above classifications.