Circulating endothelial progenitor cells and vascular anomalies

Recent findings regarding pathways of stem/progenitor cell involvement in adult blood vessel growth (postnatal vasculogenesis) suggest new theories for the pathogenesis of vascular anomalies. The somatic growth of vascular malformations and the mysterious pattern of proliferation and involution in infantile hemangioma can no longer be purely understood through the paradigm of angiogenesis. Molecular signals for postnatal vasculogenesis are being discovered in numerous animal models of cancer and ischemia, yet little research has addressed the importance of vasculogenesis in the growth of vascular anomalies. In this review, we discuss early studies that have investigated stem/progenitor cell involvement in the pathophysiology of infantile hemangioma and other congenital vascular anomalies.