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Updated: Nov 30, 2025

A Patient-Derived Xenograft Model for Venous Malformation
Published on: June 15, 2020
Venous malformation of the foot: Spontaneous regression postpartum on MRI
Hiromitsu Hiruma1, Kaoru Kitsukawa1, Yukihisa Ogawa1
1Department of Radiology, St. Marianna University School of Medicine, 2-16-1, Sugao, Miyamae-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, 216-8511, Japan.
Venous malformations (VMs) are present at birth, grow proportionally during childhood, and usually do not regress. We report the imaging appearance of a VM of the foot found during pregnancy, which regressed spontaneously postpartum. A 35-year-old, 8-month-pregnant woman presented with a 6-month history of painful swelling of the left foot. MRI demonstrated a well-defined, intricate-shaped mass measuring 38 × 36 × 28 mm between the muscles and tendons of the third, fourth, and fifth toes with subcutaneous extension. Dynamic CT taken a month after delivery revealed gradual enhancement of the lesion. Gray-scale ultrasonography (US) showed a heterogenic hypoechoic mass containing thrombi with venous waveforms on Doppler US. A second MRI obtained 15 months after delivery showed a remarkable reduction of the lesion size (16 × 20 × 15 mm). Symptomatic VMs found during pregnancy can be observed conservatively without treatment.
Venous malformations (VMs) are present at birth, grow proportionally during childhood, and usually do not regress. We report the imaging appearance of a VM of the foot found during pregnancy, which regressed spontaneously postpartum. A 35-year-old, 8-month-pregnant woman presented with a 6-month history of painful swelling of the left foot. MRI demonstrated a well-defined, intricate-shaped mass measuring 38 × 36 × 28 mm between the muscles and tendons of the third, fourth, and fifth toes with subcutaneous extension. Dynamic CT taken a month after delivery revealed gradual enhancement of the lesion. Gray-scale ultrasonography (US) showed a heterogenic hypoechoic mass containing thrombi with venous waveforms on Doppler US. A second MRI obtained 15 months after delivery showed a remarkable reduction of the lesion size (16 × 20 × 15 mm). Symptomatic VMs found during pregnancy can be observed conservatively without treatment.
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