Fibro-Adipose Vascular Anomaly: Old Wine or New Cocktail

Results to be exhibited at ARRS 2019 Annual Meeting

Leesburg, VA, May 8, 2019—Unique clinico-radiological features of a provisionally unclassified vascular anomaly can assist radiologists in identifying this uncommon distinct entity, according to a study to be presented at the ARRS 2019 Annual Meeting, set for May 5-10 in Honolulu, HI.

The study was conducted to evaluate the clinical and radiological features of fibro-adipose vascular anomaly (FAVA) including the use of advanced imaging techniques.

FAVA is a recently described soft-tissue vascular lesion, frequently misdiagnosed as venous malformation, mesenchymal tumor, or intramuscular hemangioma and refractory to conventional modalities of treatment. In a retrospective review of hospital records, the clinical and imaging findings of 20 patients were reviewed to construct a profile of the unique clinico-radiological features of FAVA.

The typical clinical profile is a young patient with painful intramuscular lesion in the extremities, causing contractures. The lesion is solid-appearing with heterogeneous echotexture on ultrasound, soft on elastography, and shows progressive heterogeneous enhancement on contrast ultrasound and dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with associated phlebectasia.

“FAVA is a new and novel entity that the radiologists should be aware of,” said Dr. Ankur Goyal, author of the study “as they may be first ones to suggest this possibility.”


With educational activities representing the entire spectrum of radiology, ARRS will host leading radiologists from around the world at the ARRS 2019 Annual Meeting, May 5–10, at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. For more information, visit: https://www.arrs.org/am19