Intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia of the mouth: report of six cases and literature review

OBJECTIVE: Oral intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia (IPEH) is a n uncommon, reactive vascular lesion with no specific clinical features. Mi croscopically two subtypes have been described: a pure and a mixed form. Th e importance of IPEH is in its resemblance to angiosarcoma. The aim of this study was to evaluate both the prevalence of IPEH in a consecutive series of oral vascular malformations and the clinico-pathological features. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Histological sections of 103 consecutive cases filed as vascular malformations were reviewed for histopathological criteria of IPEH. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: We found six cases of oral IPEH, of which three wer e diagnosed previously. Five of these cases were in males, and the mean age was 58 years. It was usually described as a blue or reddish nodule. The lo wer lip mucosa was the most common site followed by the tongue and the uppe r lip. Histologically, thrombi were always present and five out of the six lesions appeared in a mixed form, while only one was in a pure form. Three cases were diagnosed at an early stage and in the other three, the lesions were well-established. In this series, IPEH associated with vascular malfor mation was more common than reported in previous studies. Lesions at early stages, especially in the mixed form, may be unnoticed.