Surgical treatment of angiosarcoma of the scalp: less is more

Angiosarcomas (AS) of the scalp are rare tumors with an extremely poor prognosis mostly affecting elderly patients. Given the special anatomic nature of the blood supply to the scalp, it must be presumed that the tumor has already spread at the time of the initial presentation. We report a simple and fast surgical procedure, which places only a minimum burden on the patient. In 19 patients, we performed a resection of the external table with the defect being covered immediately by a split skin graft. The average stay in hospital amounted to 12.2 days. The postoperative period free of recurrences was 2.7 months on average. The average survival period after resection was 17.5 months. In view of the difficult diagnosis, an often delayed therapy and the rapid formation of metastases, a time-saving procedure with a low rate of complications should be given preference over other reconstructive methods.