Multifocal Gastrointestinal Angiosarcoma: a Challenging Diagnosis?

Abstract

Angiosarcoma rarely involves the gastrointestinal tract. Herein, we describe the case of a 68-year-old man with haemoptysis and melena who was eventually diagnosed with multifocal angiosarcoma of the stomach, small bowel, lungs, and thyroid. The peculiarity was that the histological feature of the polypoid lesions removed at endoscopy was initially misinterpreted as benign hyperplastic polyps, whilst their neoplastic nature was clinically suspected only when the videocapsule endoscopy revealed the presence of multiple variable-sized nodules with apical erosion or active bleeding in the small bowel. Based on the very low incidence, diagnosis of angiosarcoma involving the gastrointestinal tract may be misinterpreted by both the endoscopist and pathologist.