The experimental rationale for new bleomycin-polidocanol mini-foam administration in the treatment of children with head and neck venous malformations

Relevance. Venous malformation (VM) is an abnormal development of the collecting blood vessels based on the vascular wall formation disorder, which occurs during the peripheral vascular network differentiation. According to various sources, VM prevalence ranges from 1 to 2 in 10 000 newborns. Head and neck VMs significantly reduce patients’ quality of life, causing severe functional and aesthetic impairments. Sclerotherapy is an effective treatment method for children with venous malformations. In recent years, bleomycin has been the most commonly used sclerosant. It is a glycopeptide antibiotic synthesized by Streptomyces verticillus and belongs to cytostatic medications. They successfully use it for venous malformations sclerotherapy, also in children. Purpose – the study aimed to improve the sclerotherapy method by combining the advantages of foam sclerotherapy and bleomycin.Materials and methods. 48 samples of rats’ external femoral veins were morphologically examined. We divided the rats into 2 groups depending on the administrated agent: the first group – 3% polidocanol (lauromacrogol 400), the second group – bleomycin-polidocanol mini-foam composition. The histological assessment identified the changes in the vein endothelium, necrosis of tissue structures, cell dystrophy characteristics.Results. The first group, which used the bleomycin-polidocanol mini-foam composition, demonstrated more pronounced irreversible changes in the venous vessel endothelium compared to the second group.Conclusions. The experimental study revealed that the proposed method of VM sclerotherapy using new bleomycin-polidocanol mini-foam composition is more effective than the polidocanol foam sclerotherapy. The new method is highly effective, minimally invasive, safe and can be considered an independent treatment method in children with head and neck VM.