Lymphatic malformations: a 20-year single institution experience

Lymphatic malformations (LMs) are congenital abnormalities which result from disturbances in the embryologic development of the lymphatic system. We sought to determine the characteristics and treatment patterns for LMs in a rural setting, and the effect of a specialized vascular malformations clinic on triage and follow-up.

This is a retrospective cohort study at a single tertiary care institution. Sixty-two patients were identified; chart review was completed to obtain demographic, surgery/sclerotherapy session and follow-up information.

The head/neck region was the most predominant LM location (N = 26, 41.9%), followed by trunk (N = 16, 25.8%), extremity (N = 11, 17.7%), and intraabdominal/retroperitoneal (N = 7, 11.3%). Twenty-eight patients were managed non-surgically, while 21, 7 and 6 patients required surgery, sclerotherapy, or both. Head/neck LMs were the most likely to recur (73%, p = 0.028). Patients seen in specialty clinic had similar duration of follow-up and time to intervention, but were more often below 1 year of age (p = 0.030). Average LM volume among patients with available imaging was much larger in those referred to specialty clinic (73.2 cm³ versus 14.8 cm³, p = 0.022).

Our experience reiterates not only the wide variety of clinical presentations of lymphatic malformations, but also demonstrates the necessity of multiple subspecialties and their collaboration to achieve prompt and efficacious treatment.