Angiographically occult vascular malformations in childhood.

Five infants and children with angiographically occult vascular malformations of the brain detected by computed tomography (CT) are presented. Four malformations were located in the cerebral hemisphere, and one was in the brain stem. CT demonstrated high density lesions with little or no enhancement after infusion of the contrast material. The malformations were resected and histologically proven. All patients have done well. The pertinent literature is reviewed. These lesions are uncommon during infancy and childhood and mimic gliomas clinically and radiographically. The need for surgical extirpation of these lesions is stressed.