Painful swollen leg--think beyond deep vein thrombosis or Baker's cyst.
Arumilli BR, Lenin Babu V, Paul AS.
The Regional Sarcoma Centre, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9WL, UK. rajjuorth@gmail.com
BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis of leg is very common in clinical practice. Not infrequently a range of pathologies are diagnosed after excluding a thrombosis, often after a period of anticoagulation. CASE PRESENTATION: This is a report of three patients who presented with a painful swollen leg and were initially treated as a deep vein thrombosis or a baker's cyst, but later diagnosed as a pleomorphic sarcoma, a malignant giant cell tumor of the muscle and a myxoid liposarcoma. A brief review of such similar reports and the relevant literature is presented. CONCLUSION: A painful swollen leg is a common clinical scenario and though rare, tumors must be thought of without any delay, in a duplex negative, low risk deep vein thrombosis situation.
Publication Types:
PMID: 18205917 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]PMCID: PMC2244628