title: Endoscopic features of smooth muscle tumors in children with AIDS.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Smooth muscle tumors are the second most common malignancy encountered in children with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). This study reviewed the incidence and endoscopic appearance of smooth muscle tumors in the gastrointestinal tract of children with AIDS undergoing endoscopy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective review of all endoscopic records (n = 70) of children with AIDS from August 1988 to December 1997 at a tertiary care inner city hospital.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three children with advanced AIDS (4%) were found to have smooth muscle tumors, all of which had the typical appearance of submucosal nodules with central ulceration. Some were hemorrhagic. They measured less than 1 to 4 cm in diameter. Two children had multiple tumors. All lesions except for one were located in the colon. Colonic biopsies revealed a leiomyoma in one patient and a smooth muscle tumor of uncertain malignant potential in another. The forceps biopsy of the single gastric mass was not deep enough to make the diagnosis of a smooth muscle tumor. A nonmalignant smooth muscle tumor grew from less than 5 mm to more than 4 cm in 1 year and was removed surgically. All three children are alive without any evidence of local spread or distant metastases despite no specific therapy for the smooth muscle tumor.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Smooth muscle tumors in the GI tract of children with AIDS are relatively common. Further study of the long-term outcome for children infected with the human immunodeficiency virus who have these lesions are needed to establish prognosis and management guidelines.
authors.affiliation: Divisions of Pediatric GI & Nutrition, Allergy and Immunology, Pediatric Infectious Diseases, and Pathology, SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Z L
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Molle
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Moallem
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Desai
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Rabinowitz
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D016099:Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018235:Smooth Muscle Tumor / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D015996:Survival Rate