Hepatic angiosarcoma. Presentation of two cases

• Published in: Revista española de enfermedades digestivas Vol. 101; no. 6; pp. 430 - 437
• Main Authors: Egea Valenzuela, J, López Poveda, M J, Pérez Fuenzalida, F J, Garre Sánchez, C, Martínez Barba, E, Carballo Alvarez, F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Spain Sociedad Española de Patología Digestiva 01-06-2009
• Subjects: Aged; Fatal Outcome; Gastroenterology & Hepatology; Geriatrics & Gerontology; Hemangiosarcoma - diagnosis; Humans; Infectious Diseases; Liver Neoplasms - diagnosis; Male; Oncology; Pathology; Pharmacology & Pharmacy; Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging; Surgery; Tumor del estroma gastrointestinal; Neoplasias hepáticas; Chemically induced; Hepatic neoplasms; Angiosarcoma; Gastrointestinal stromal tumor; Enfermedad inducida por sustancias químicas
• ISSN: 1130-0108; 1130-0108
• DOI: 10.4321/s1130-01082009000600010

Hepatic angiosarcoma is a rare primary tumor of the liver with a mesenchymal origin. Diagnosis is difficult because clinical manifestations and imaging studies are inconclusive. In many cases a diagnosis is obtained during necropsy, not being apparent during the course of disease. It is associated with several risk factors, but these contribute to explaining only a few of all reported cases. When clinical manifestations begin progression is often fast, and possibilities for curative treatment are limited.We report two cases of hepatic angiosarcoma. In the first one, our patient had an insidious initial course, and then suddenly presented with hepatic failure followed by acute respiratory distress. A diagnosis was reached during necropsy. In the second case, we initiated the study of a chronic liver disease using fine-needle aspiration biopsy, which showed findings suggestive of hepatic angiosarcoma. In the following weeks the patient started on a torpid clinic course, and died from multiple organ failure.