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Telangiectasias, or spider veins, are small enlarged blood vessels near the surface of the skin; usually they measure only a few millimeters. They can develop anywhere on the body but commonly on the face around the nose, cheeks, and chin. They can also develop on the legs, specifically on the upper thigh, below the knee joint, and around the ankles.
These are actually developmental abnormalities but can closely mimic the behavior of benign vascular neoplasms. They may be composed of abnormal aggregations of arterioles, capillaries, or venules.
Chronic treatment with topical corticosteroids may lead to telangiectasia.*
Features
Telangiectasias can result in nevus flammeus (port-wine stain), which is a flat birthmark on the head or neck that spontaneously regresses. A port-wine stain, if present, will grow proportionately with the child. There is a high association with Sturge-Weber syndrome, a nevus formation in the skin supplied by the trigeminal nerve and associated with glaucoma, meningeal angiomas, and mental retardation. Finally, spider telangiectasias are a radial array of tiny arterioles that commonly occur in pregnant women and in patients with hepatic cirrhosis. In men, they are related to high estrogen levels secondary to liver disease.
Associated conditions
Telangiectasias may occur in a number of diseases, including (ICD-10 codes are provided):
- (M34.1) CREST syndrome (a variant of scleroderma)
- (I78.0) hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (Rendu-Osler-Weber syndrome)
- (G11.3) Ataxia telangiectasia
Treatment
Telangiectasias are often treated with laser or IPL therapy.
External link
- Information about Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia from Children's Hospital, Seattle.
"Telangiectasia"