Angiographic diagnosis of jugular venous system dilatation in children. A report of five cases.

We report five children with a soft mass in the neck due to congenital jugular venous ectasia. Three had fusiform dilatation of the internal jugular vein, which in one case was associated with dilatation of the ipselateral external jugular vein. Two children had aneurysmal dilatation of the superficial cervical communicating vein. The first four cases required angiographic studies for final diagnosis. Venography via the femoral vein was most valuable for visualization of the dilated segments of internal jugular veins but failed to show the vascular mass communicating with the superficial vein of the neck. These were best visualized by direct injection of the contrast medium into the vessel. In the fifth case a correct diagnosis was obtained with xeroradiography alone.