My NCBISign In

Display Settings:

Format

Send to:

Choose Destination

    J Formos Med Assoc. 2006 Mar;105(3):238-41.

    Angiosarcoma with pulmonary metastasis presenting with spontaneous bilateral pneumothorax in an elderly man.

    Chen W, Shih CS, Wang YT, Tseng GC, Hsu WH.

    Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.

    Cutaneous angiosarcoma is a rare and invasive endothelial-derived sarcoma that occurs most frequently in the scalp and facial skin of elderly men. It is frequently accompanied by thin-walled cavitary pulmonary metastasis, and is often obscure on chest radiograph. We report a case of angiosarcoma of the scalp with cystic metastasis to the lung in a 63-year-old man, presenting as recurrent bilateral spontaneous pneumothorax. Lung metastasis was missed at the first episode of pneumothorax because the lung-expanded chest radiograph showed no significant abnormality. Two months later, bilateral pneumothorax recurred, and high-resolution computed tomography revealed multiple cystic, cavitary and nodular lesions. Pulmonary metastasis was confirmed by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, and pleurodesis was performed. After the operation, the patient received chemotherapy; no recurrence of pneumothorax was found during 6 months of follow-up. Pneumothorax in the elderly should be differentiated from malignant metastatic lung tumors.

    PMID: 16520841 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

    Supplemental Content

    Click here to read
    Write to the Help Desk