Hemangiopericytoma of the head and neck

Abstract

Purpose: To report a series of patients with hemangiopericytoma (HP) of the head and neck, to review pathological features of these tumors, and to discuss management options.

Materials and methods: A retrospective review of the medical records at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA, was done in order to identify those patients with primary HP of the head and neck, including soft tissue and mucosal sites.

Results: Ten patients with HP of the head and neck were identified. There was an equal sex distribution and an average age of 36 (range 10-65). Seven of the tumors arose from soft tissue sites in the head and neck, and the remaining 3 arose from the mucosa. All patients underwent wide excision of the primary lesion with a local recurrence rate of 40%. Thirty percent of patients developed metastatic lung disease 0 to 8 years after initial diagnosis. Each patient who developed metastatic disease had abundant mitoses on pathological review compared with rare or absent mitoses in the lesions that took a more benign course.

Conclusions: Pathological appearance of resected HP is predictive of later metastatic potential. Long-term follow-up is necessary in patients even after radical resection because recurrence or metastasis may be delayed by many years.