hypervascular
Meaning of hypervascular: Hypervascular describes tissue or a lesion that contains an unusually high number of blood vessels compared with surrounding normal tissue.
Definition of hypervascular
Hypervascular describes a tissue, organ, or lesion that has an increased number of blood vessels or an increased blood supply relative to what is typical. On imaging studies, a hypervascular finding often appears as an area that takes up contrast material more intensely than surrounding tissue, reflecting its richer blood flow.
A hypervascular appearance can be a feature of certain benign growths as well as some cancers, since both normal and abnormal tissue can develop an increased blood supply. Because of this, hypervascularity alone does not determine whether a finding is benign or malignant, and it is interpreted together with other imaging characteristics.
The degree and pattern of enhancement seen in a hypervascular lesion, along with its size, shape, and location, help guide further evaluation.
Used in a sentence
The liver lesion demonstrated a hypervascular pattern of enhancement on the contrast-enhanced scan.
Good to know
A hypervascular appearance on imaging raises the possibility of certain specific diagnoses but does not by itself distinguish a benign lesion from a malignant one.
Word origin
Where “hypervascular” comes from
Formed from hyper- (Greek, meaning "over" or "excessive") and vascular, from Latin vasculum, meaning "small vessel."