Doxycycline Sclerotherapy For Lymphatic Malformations Under Doppler Ultrasound Guide

Abstract

Background: Lymphatic malformations are uncommon hamartomatous congenital malformations of lymphatic system that can manage by different percutaneous scleroting agents. Aim of study: This prospective study is to assess the effectiveness of doxycycline in all types of lymphatic malformations in terms of dose calculation and number of sessions and to evaluate risks versus benefits.Patients and method: one year period,(7) patients with simple Lymphatic malformations at the age (1-23) years were treated using doxycycline ( 10mg/ml ) as percutaneous intralesional scleroting agent guided by Doppler Ultra -sound, Magnetic resonance imaging was obtained in follow ups 6 weeks postoperatively . Results: there were (4) patients with macrocystic Lymphatic malformations (57.1%), (1) patient with microcystic Lymphatic malformations (14.3%) ,and (2) patients with combined Lymphatic malformations (28.6%) , there was complete resolution in( 6) patients (85.7%) including all types of Lymphatic malformations and residual lesion of (1) patient (14.3%) of combined type. All macrocystic type required only one session and the combined type required more sessions than other types, follow up range was (2-7) months after complete resolution. Conclusions: doxycycline is an effective, inexpensive, available scleroting agent that can achieve excellent result in all types of Lymphatic malformations with large doses even in small children with minor and manageable side effects.