Misdiagnosed as infantile hemangioma: Early presentation of small vessel-rich AVM

Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are typically present at birth but may not become clinically significant till later in life. The rarity of AVMs leads to misdiagnosis, as they can be confused in young patients with infantile hemangioma (IH). Small vessel-rich AVM can be radiologically consistent with an IH, while the clinical presentation is that of a slowly growing vascular anomaly. These cases highlight the clinical dilemma that while a vascular anomaly may appear by imaging studies to be the common and generally innocuous IH, an atypical growth pattern should raise clinical suspicion for an AVM.