[A leiomyosarcoma of vascular origin. A case report]

Leiomyosarcomas arising from the wall of the blood vessels, are highly malignant tumours. Although 75% of the cases have been reported in the inferior vena cava, nevertheless scanty mention is made in the literature of an analogous tumor originating from smaller blood vessels. This paper deals with a 53-year-old man with a tumor in the right axilla. Surgery consisted in wide local excision. Histopathology revealed a mesenchymal tumor in an axillary blood vessel. Electron microscopy revealed tumor cell with all the characteristics of a leiomyosarcoma. The patient refused adjuvant therapy and died 10 months later with local recurrence and lung metastases.