Computed tomography manifestations and pathological features of intra-abdominal desmoplastic small round cell tumor

To explore the computed tomography (CT) manifestations and pathological features of intra-abdominal desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT).

Retrospective analysis was conducted on the CT manifestations and pathological features of 11 patients with intra-abdominal DSRCT in Yueqing People's Hospital, Shaoxing People's Hospital and Wenzhou People's Hospital from January 2010 to June 2022.

Among 11 patients, four cases were with solitary tumor and seven cases were with multiple tumors. There were five cases with elliptical shape, smooth edges and clear boundary and six cases with irregular shape and unclear boundary. The CT plain scan showed the uneven density in tumor. There were six cases with necrosis and cystic transformation in central tumor, and five cases with small patchy or strip-shaped calcification within the tumor. The enhanced CT scan showed uneven enhancement. There were seven cases of mild enhancement and four cases of moderate enhancement. Five cases showed strip or grid-like enhancement within tumor, and five cases showed increased and thickened vascular shadows around the tumor. The immunohistochemistry showed nine cases were positive for AE1/AE3, CK, Vim and Desmin, eight cases were positive for EMA, seven cases were positive for NSE, and three cases were positive for CGA, SYN, CD56 and CD99.

In CT manifestations, the intra-abdominal DSRCT present the solitary or multiple tumors, with uneven density. There are often cystic changes and small patchy calcification within the tumor, with mild to moderate uneven enhancement.