Treatment of vascular soft tissue malformations: A retrospective study of 90 patients from Albania

Vascular malformations (Vascular Malformation) of soft tissue are a consequence of abnormal development of vascular elements during embryogenesis. They are named after the vessel responsible. Their presence at birth raises the hypothesis of an intrauterine etiology of Vascular Malformation, but the influence of other factors may play an important role in their appearance, localization, and size. The literature suggests that treatment of Vascular Malformation is rarely surgical. Surgery is applied in cases of voluminous malformations and in cases of possible hemorrhagic complications. Meanwhile, patient outcomes have improved with new discoveries in laser technology for the treatment of Vascular Malformation, especially those of capillaries and the results are, in most of the cases, quite satisfactory and without significant complications. After institutional review board approval, we collected and analyzed the medical records of 90 patients diagnosed with Vascular Malformation, between January 2015 and December 2019 at the service of Burns and Plastic Surgery, "Mother Teresa" University Hospital Center of Tirana, Albania and from another private clinic in Tirana. Data were collected from the medical records on patient's charts. The aim of this study is to analyze different treatment modalities and the outcomes achieved for each group.