Vascular Malformation Enlargement During Menopause.

Vascular malformations enlarge overtime, particularly during adolescence when follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) rises. Lesions contain the receptor for follicle-stimulating hormone. FSH also becomes elevated during menopause. We present a patient with a venous malformation of the lip that presented for the first time after she entered menopause which was temporally related to a significant increase in her serum FSH levels that were measured. This observation supports the hypothesis that FSH might influence the pathophysiology of vascular malformations.