[Cavernous haemangioma of the lung: a case report and review of the literature]

Abstract

Cavernous haemangioma is a rare benign vascular tumour rarely seen in the lung. A 73-year-old male complaining of haemoptysis and dyspnoea, with a solitary nodule of the left lower pulmonary lobe, underwent left lower wedge resection. Pathology showed a 3 cm cavernous haemangioma. One year later symptoms recurred and CT showed a second nodule in the left upper lobe. Upper left lobectomy was performed, confirming the diagnosis of cavernous haemangioma. There are less than 25 case reports of this type of tumour in the literature. Radiological findings usually show a single pulmonary nodule. The preoperative diagnosis is quite difficult because pulmonary biopsy is often non-diagnostic. Standard treatment is complete surgical resection. For asymptomatic patients a brief period of observation is suggested.