Combined neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser and sclerotherapy in Gorham-Stout syndrome

Abstract

Bone involvement is relatively rare in vascular malformations. Gorham-Stout disease, also referred to as vanishing bone disease, is characterized by osteoclast activation and osteolysis caused by proliferating lymphatic endothelial cells. We present the case of a 12-year-old boy who had Gorham-Stout disease at the age of 8 years. The clinical course was complicated by pathological fractures and localized intravascular consumption coagulopathy. Sclerotherapy and embolization therapy led to normalization of the coagulation parameters and significant improvement of the clinical findings. We speculate that this effect may be attributable to the elimination of lymphatic endothelial cells. Key words: endovascular laser photocoagulation, Gorham-Stout syndrome, localized consumption coagulopathy, sclerotherapy, vanishing bone disease