Vascular tumors are divided histologically into vascular lesions on the surface of the body, i.e. hemangiomas, and vascular malformations which have normal endothelial cells but manifest structurally abnormal vascular proliferation. Vascular malformations are often encountered in the head and neck region. We studied patients who underwent laryngoscopic surgery in our department for vascular malformations of the larynx. Direct laryngoscopic surgery was performed under general anesthesia. The

more »

... sa surrounding the vascular malformation was stripped and resected. The vasa vasorum were treated with an Ho:YAG laser. We reviewed five patients who had received laryngoscopic treatment in the larynx region during the past two years. Histopathologic examination of the removed tumor tissues revealed venous malformation in four cases and lymphatic malformation in one case. The postoperative course was uneventful with neither hemorrhaging nor other complications, and none of the cases showed any recurrent disease up to the present. Our experience suggests that the laryngoscopic surgery provides minimal surgical intervention and can be applied to a wide range of age.