Case report
Primary mediastinal hemangiopericytoma
1 Cardiothoracic Surgery Department, G. Papanikolaou General Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece
2 Cardiothoracic Surgery Department, Theagenio Cancer Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece
3 Cardiothoracic Surgery Department, Geniki Kliniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
World Journal of Surgical Oncology 2006, 4:23 doi:10.1186/1477-7819-4-23
Published: 27 April 2006Abstract
Background
Hemangiopericytoma is a rare mesenchymal neoplasm, accounting for about 1% of vascular tumors The tumor occurs most commonly in the skin, subcutaneous soft tissues, muscles of the extremities, retroperitoneum but rarely in the lung, trachea or mediastinum.
Case presentation
A rare case of primary mediastinal hemangiopericytoma is presented. A 72-year-old woman was treated by complete surgical resection of the tumor. Details of the clinical and radiographic feature are presented. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful with no evidence of recurrence 9 months after the operation.
Conclusion
Hemangiopericytoma is an uncommon, potentially malignant tumor originating from pericytes in the small vessels and surgical radical excision is the treatment of choice, although the criteria for determining the area of resection have not been established. International literature has demonstrated that recurrent disease usually occurs within 2 years and therefore a long-term careful follow-up is required.
