Verrucous venous malformations of the hand

Abstract

Verrucous venous malformation is a rare vascular anomaly that presents as a deep purple skin stain and evolves into a larger scaly, keratotic lesion that can bleed and cause pain. Because of its similarity to other vascular lesions, it is often misdiagnosed and treated incorrectly. Ten patients with hand verrucous venous malformations evaluated between 1990 and 2017 were reviewed. Diagnosis was confirmed with histopathology. Six patients were initially misdiagnosed and two patients were incorrectly treated. Eight patients had excision procedures. Immunostaining for glucose transporter 1 protein was positive in all specimens that underwent staining. Most (three of four) of the patients with isolated small lesions remained disease free postoperatively, but those with larger lesions experienced recurrence or continued growth. Early recognition of verrucous venous malformation is important because nonsurgical ablative techniques are ineffective; the optimal treatment is surgery. Level of evidence: IV