Cystic retroperitoneal lymphangioma: treatment by image-guided percutaneous catheter drainage and sclerotherapy

Retroperitoneal cystic lymphangiomas are extremely rare and the majority ar e symptomatic during childhood. Although benign, they can compress and infi ltrate vital structures. Surgery is curative but is associated with a high complication rate. An alternative treatment strategy is image-guided percut aneous catheter drainage of the lymphangioma followed by sclerotherapy. Res olution of a large retroperitoneal cystic lymphangioma in a 4-year-old chil d treated by this technique is reported. To our knowledge, this technique h as not been previously described in this condition and we believe that it o ffers significant advantages over surgery.