Three-dimensional architecture of human cutaneous vascular lesions: a scanning electron microscopic study of corrosion casts.

Corrosion casts were made from angiosarcoma of the scalp of an elderly person, Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome, pseudo-Kaposi's sarcoma, diffuse neonatal hemangiomatosis, cavernous hemangioma and arteriovenous malformation and were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The normal scalp from a cadaver was studied as a control for the angiosarcoma of the scalp. the SEM of the vascular corrosion casts clearly demonstrated the fine three-dimensional (3-D) architectures of malignant and benign cutaneous vascular lesions; the superficial fine and medium-sized vascular networks of the skin were replaced by abnormal balloon-like dilatations, extravasated fringes, glomerular structures, sinusoidal vessels or localized bulla-like structures of the capillary loops, depending on the nature of the cutaneous vascular lesions. The corrosion cast technique is helpful for understanding the 3-D patterns of various vascular lesions.