Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the liver with myocardial metastases.
Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma is an unusual type of endothelial-derived vascular tumor located mainly in the soft tissues of the limbs. The present report describes a 48-year-old woman with an epithelioid hemangioendothelioma located in the liver with very unusual metastases to the myocardium. While the disease itself was controlled by adriamycin the patient died as a consequence of portal hypertension due to the abundant fibrotic component distinctive of this type of tumor. An epithelioid appearance can sometimes lead to a mistaken diagnosis of metastatic carcinoma, as happened initially in our case. The endothelial origin of the tumor must be confirmed by electron microscope identification of Weibel-Palade bodies or by immunohistochemical staining of factor VIII-related antigen. To the authors knowledge, this is the first case of myocardial metastases from an epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the liver to be reported in English in the medical literature.
Bellmunt
J
J
Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy, Valle Hebron Hospital Barcelona, Spain.
Allende
E
E
Navarro
M
M
Morales
S
S
Sans
M
M
Jolis
L
L
Garcia
A A
AA
Rubio
D
D
D005260:Female; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary*; D006390:Hemangioendothelioma / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary; D008875:Middle Aged