Hemangioma of the urinary bladder

BACKGROUND. Hemangioma of the urinary bladder is rare and the long term out come of patients is unknown. METHODS. The authors evaluated the clinical and pathologic findings in 19 p atients with a vesical hemangioma. All patients were treated at the Mayo Cl inic between 1932-1998 and had histologic confirmation of the diagnosis. He mangioma was classified into cavernous, capillary, or arteriovenous types b ased on conventional criteria front other sites. Clinical information was o btained from chart review. The mean follow-up of the patients was 6.9 years (range, 0.3-25 years). RESULTS. The mean patient age at the time of diagnosis was 58 years (range, 19-76 years) and the male-to-female ratio was 3.7:1. Patients typically pr esented with macroscopic hematuria and endoscopic findings usually were non specific. The diagnosis of hemangioma was suspected in 3 patients (16%) pri or to biopsy. There was a predilection for the posterior and lateral walls and the tumor usually was small (range, 0.2-3 cm; median, 0.7 cm) and solit ary. The histologic types of hemangioma were cavernous (15 cases), capillar y (2 cases), and arteriovenous (2 cases). All patients were treated with bi opsy with or without Fulguration, except for one patient who was treated wi th a partial cystectomy. No patients developed a recurrence during a mean f ollow-up of 6.9 pars. CONCLUSIONS. Patients with hemangioma of the urinary bladder have a favorab le outcome. Biopsy and fulguration are effective for hemangioma of the blad der when the lesion is small. (C) 1999 American Cancer Society.