Quality of life in patients with congenital vascular malformations

Objective: To assess quality of life (QoL) in patients with congenital vascular malformations (CVMs) and to identify factors of CVMs associated with poor QoL, including high psychological and/or somatic (physical) distress. Methods: We evaluated 71 patients (mean age, 40 +/- 16 years; 51% women) with arteriovenous (n = 10), venous/capillary (n = 34), lymphatic (n = 10), and combined (n = 17) malformations. All patients completed validated psychometric assessment tools, which were the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire-15, and the Pain Disability Index. Results: Compared with population norms, the group of CVM patients as a whole showed lower 36-Item Short Form Health Survey Physical (46 vs 50) and Mental (46 vs 52) Component Summary scores, indicating impaired physical and mental health. In addition, 13% of patients with CVMs had clinically relevant psychological distress (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale total scores >= 17), and 15% had increased somatic distress (Patient Health Questionnaire-15 total scores >= 10). Greater levels of psychological and somatic distress were significantly associated with lower scores of virtually all of the eight 36-Item Short Form Health Survey subscales (P <.05). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that, compared with a normal population, CVM patients have a lower QoL that is accompanied by increased psychological and somatic distress. In treating patients with CVMs, it is important to be aware of the psychological impact of this rare illness and to offer appropriate support.