Concomitant aortic leiomyosarcoma and takayasu arteritis in a 55-year-old male patient

Takayasu arteritis is a form of large vessel granulomatous vasculitis affecting often young or middle-aged women, especially of Asian descent. It mainly affects the aorta and its branches. Primary malignancies, such as leiomyosarcoma of the aorta are extremely rare. This report discusses the exceptional and concomitant association of Takayasu arteritis and aortic leiomyosarcoma in a 55-year-old male. The patient suffered from systemic signs and symptoms related to arteritis together with claudication of left upper limb due to left artery subclavian stenosis. After instrumental evaluation, an infiltrating neoplasm at the level of abdominal aortic wall was detected and the patient underwent en bloc excision of the mass together with abdominal aorta and subsequent aortoaortic by pass reconstruction. Histologic findings showed an arterial leiomyosarcoma combined with elements of arterial inflammation. Patients completed therapeutic scheme with chemotherapy (doxorubicin and isosfamide) and radiotherapy for the cancer condition, as well as medical treatment (prednisone and adalimumab) for Takayasu arteritis. After 12 months, the patient showed no cancer recurrence and complete normalization of inflammatory indexes and symptoms of Takayasu arteritis.