[Suspected leiomyosarcoma of the trachea]

A 73-year-old women was admitted to our hospital because of dyspnea, bloody sputum, and an apparent intratracheal tumor. A chest X-ray film from August 1991 showed a sharply circumscribed soft-tissue density in the trachea at the level of the aortic arch. By March 1993 the tumor had grown from 15 mm to 20 mm in diameter. A chest CT scan and fiberoptic bronchoscopy showed an intratracheal tumor that occupied 80% to 90% of the tracheal lumen. The tumor was resected on March 26, 1993. Histopathological study revealed a suspected leiomyosarcoma of the trachea. Only 18 cases of leiomyosarcoma of the trachea have previously been reported worldwide. We know of only 3 previous reports of the case of suspected leiomyosarcoma of the trachea in Japan.