Aortic angiosarcoma: a rare cause for leaking thoracic aneurysm

Abstract

Primary malignant tumours of the aorta are rare. They present with aneurysm formation, arterial occlusion, and embolic phenomenon. We report the case of a 56-year-old man whose initial presentation and investigations lead to emergency endovascular stenting of a descending thoracic aneurysm with a contained leak. Initial response was favourable, yet the patient presented again with worsening symptoms. The circum-aortic haematoma expanded by 50% on subsequent imaging, but no endoleak was identified. When altered bone marrow signal was identified on magnetic resonance imaging, the possibility of malignancy was considered. A metastatic skin lesion was then biopsied, which demonstrated morphological and immunohistochemical features consistent with metastases from a pleomorphic sarcoma of the aorta.