A Case of Leiomyosarcoma of the Esophagus

Yosuke Izumi, Kunihide Yoshino, Tasuyuki Kawano, Kagami Nagai, Yuji Nagahama, Satoshi Miyake, Masanori Nakamura, Satoshi Nara, Mitsuo Endo

Department of Surgery I, School of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University

A 21-year-old man first presented in August, 1992 with dysphagia and hematemesis. The patient was hospitalized on January 8, 1993 due to severe dyspnea. endoscopy revealed a protruded lesion which was friable and bled easily. The biopsy specimen revealed necrotic tissue and fungus. Computed tomography of the chest showed a low density mass in the upper mediastinum. Because malignant smooth muscle tumor was strongly suspected from the open biopsy, transthoratic resection of the esophagus was performd on January 26, 1993. The postoperative diagnosis was A₀, N(-), M₀, Pl₀. The surgical specimen revealed a submucosal pedunculated tumor measuring 13.0×7.5×3.2 cm, histologically diagnosed as leiomyosarcoma. Widespread recurrences were noted in the right neck, right upper pleural cavity and mediastinum three months after the operation, and chemotherapy and radiation therapy were performed. Despite partial response he died six months after the operation due to respiratory distress. We report the youngest case of leiomyosarcoma of the esophagus, and reviewed 76 cases in the Japanese literature.

Key words
leiomyosarcoma of the esophagus

Reprint requests
Yosuke Izumi Department of Surgery I, School of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University
1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113 JAPAN

Accepted
April 13, 1994

To read the PDF file you will need Abobe Reader installed on your computer.