Abstract

We report an 18-month-old Japanese girl with purely epithelioid leiomyosarcoma presenting as a huge intraabdominal mass. The patient had been well from birth and had shown no signs of immunodeficiency. She was negative for human immunodeficiency virus. Blood examination revealed elevated serum neuron specific enolase (NSE). Histologically, the tumor was comprised of solid growths of round or polygonal cells with vesicular nuclei and often vacuolated cytoplasm rich in glycogen. The tumor cells were positive for vimentin, NSE, and MIC2, and were negative for desmin and neurofilament. The age, clinical presentation, and histologic findings mostly favored Ewing's sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor. Silver stain, however, demonstrated well-developed reticulin fibers often outlining individual tumor cells. An expanded panel of immunostains showed that the tumor cells were intensely positive for smooth muscle actin, and ultrastructural study revealed abundant fine cytoplasmic filaments with focal subsarcolemmal densities, various amounts of glycogen, and irregularly arranged, thick basal lamina. The diagnosis of epithelioid leiomyosarcoma was made. Following reduction in tumor size by chemotherapy, the serum NSE level was normalized. From the surgical finding, the primary site was presumed to be the urachus or the urinary bladder dome. Although extremely rare, epithelioid leiomyosarcoma should be added in the list of differential diagnoses of pediatric "round cell tumors."