Primary sarcoma of the aorta associated with a vascular prosthesis: a case report

A case of a primary malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the aorta, arising at the site of a woven Dacron thoracic aortic graft is described. Hypertension was a prominent clinical feature. Compression and distortion of the aortic graft by tumor complicated later surgical repair of an adjacent aortic aneurysm, resulting in death. At autopsy, the tumor was shown to have arisen in a portion of aortic wall surrounding the graft material. Tumor emboli were present in several distal arteries, with complete occlusion of the right renal artery by invasive tumor embolus. Primary tumors of the aorta are rare; 16 such cases have been reported in the literature. Only 2 previous cases of tumors associated with vascular prostheses have been reported. The occurrence of tumor in this case adjacent to an aortic graft raises the possibility that the graft material played a role in tumor induction.