[Intravenous leiomyomatosis. Presentation of 5 cases and a review of the literature]

Abstract

Authors report five cases of intravenous leiomyomatosis, one of which had colonized the inferior vena cava and the right atrium, and make a review of the literature. The morphology of the lesions is in keeping with that previously reported. Moreover the immunostainings confirm the nature and the intravascular location of the neoplastic tissue. Authors taking into consideration the two most likely differential diagnoses afford the problem of the so-called "metastasizing leiomyoma". Eventually they agree that intravenous leiomyomatosis is an underdiagnosed entity that possibly will be more easily recognized due to the modern non-invasive diagnostic procedures.