Capillary telangiectasias: clinical, radiographic, and histopathological features

Abstract

Brain capillary telangiectasias are small vascular malformations that rarely cause symptoms. They are often overlooked on imaging because of their clinically benign nature; however, they have been misdiagnosed as glial tumors in the past. Specific MR imaging sequences (T1-weighted postcontrast and gradient refocused echo) are valuable in aiding diagnosis, as histopathological diagnosis is often not possible. These cases highlight that BCTs can cause symptoms, a finding that may actually be related to the size of the lesion (28.6% of large BCTs in this series were symptomatic, whereas none of the small ones were).