Venous malformation with multiple phleboliths: A case report

Venous malformations are congenital, abnormally formed vessels, present at birth. They do not undergo regression with the growth of the patient. Due to the stagnation of blood flow in venous malformations, thrombosis and phlebolith formation may occur. Phleboliths are calcified thrombi which radiographically must be differentiated from calcified lymph nodes, sialoliths, foreign bodies, and other radiopacities. We report an extensive venous malformation in a 19-year-old woman with panoramic radiography demonstrating multiple phleboliths. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed the extension of the lesion into the hard palate and the masseter muscles superiorly, extending from the oropharynx to the tongue, inferiorly reaching the right clavicula and spreading between the right sternocleidomastoid muscle and strap muscles of the neck. The article is presented because the presence of phleboliths demonstrated on panoramic radiography is rarely described in the literature. Keywords: magnetic resonance imaging, panoramic radiography, phleboliths, venous malformation