Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2015 Dec 3:16:854-7.
doi: 10.12659/ajcr.895289.

Solitary Fibrous Tumor of the Pleura: A Rare Cause of Pleural Mass

Rodjawan Supakul  1 , Amik Sodhi  1 , Cecilia Yshii Tamashiro  1 , Syed S Azmi  2 , Dipen Kadaria  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Solitary Fibrous Tumor of the Pleura: A Rare Cause of Pleural Mass

Rodjawan Supakul et al. Am J Case Rep. .

Abstract

Background: A solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura is a rare but usually benign mesenchymal tumor arising from the pleura. Patients are often asymptomatic, resulting in the majority of tumors being detected incidentally on chest imaging. We present a case of a large solitary pleural tumor and review the typical radiographic and pathologic findings associated with this finding.

Case report: A 63-year-old white man with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was found to have a large pleural mass on chest radiography during a pre-operative assessment. The tumor was biopsied and findings were consistent with solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura.

Conclusions: SFTPs are generally considered benign tumors although there is a risk of malignant transformation and recurrence. Imaging studies play an important role in identifying the tumor and planes of resection, and histologic diagnosis is critical in differentiating SFTP from other type of pleural masses. Surgical resection is main therapy of choice.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Chest X-ray PA view showed a well-circumscribed pleural mass centered at the left lung base.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
CT chest showing left pleural mass.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
CT chest showing left pleural mass (coronal view).
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) stain showing low grade spindle-shaped tumor cell in haphazard pattern (low power).
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Immunohistochemistry staining showing positive for CD 34.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Chan JK. Solitary fibrous tumour: everywhere, and a diagnosis in vogue. Histopathology. 1997;31:568–76. - PubMed
    1. De Perrot M, Fischer S, Brundler MA, et al. Solitary fibrous tumors of the pleura. Ann Thorac Surg. 2002;74:285–93. - PubMed
    1. Sung SH, Chang JW, Kim J, et al. Solitary fibrous tumors of the pleura: surgical outcome and clinical course. Ann Thorac Surg. 2005;79:303–7. - PubMed
    1. Zellos LS, Sugarbaker DJ. Multimodality treatment of diffuse malignant pleural mesothelioma. Semin Oncol. 2002;29:41–50. - PubMed
    1. Dalton WT, Zolliker AS, McCaughey WT, et al. Localized primary tumors of the pleura: an analysis of 40 cases. Cancer. 1979;44:1465–75. - PubMed

Publication types