Hemangioendothelioma with intravascular coagulation and ischemic colitis

An infant who presented with a thigh mass and coagulopathy was found to have a hemangioendothelioma. The tumor rapidly enlarged despite accepted therapeutic modalities, and the child died after a sudden cardiac arrest. Postmortem examination revealed a highly invasive tumor mass that had infiltrated the bowel and involved the inferior mesenteric artery, resulting in ischemic colitis of the left colon. A discussion regarding the pathophysiology with respect to endothelial cell properties and other microscopic features of the tumor is presented.