Discussion
Diagnosis With Brief Discussion
- Diagnosis
- Benign Metastasizing Leiomyoma
- Radiologic Findings
- Simple chest radiograph shows variable sized nodular lesions on both lung fields. Chest CT scans show well-circumscribed multiple pulmonary nodules ranging in size from a few millimeters to several centimeters in diameter scattered. No nodules contained calcification. There was no evidence of pleural effusions or significant mediastinal lymphadenopathy. Wedge resection of lingula segment of left upper lobe revealed benign metastasizing leiomyoma. The patient has undergone hysterectomy for uterine leiomyomas 8 years ago.
- Brief Review
- Benign metastasizing leiomyoma is a rare entity that usually affects women after hysterectomy for leiomyomas. Patients are usually asymptomatic with incidental observation of pulmonary lesions, although symptoms such as cough, chest pain, and dyspnea have been described. The lung is the most common site of involvement and other sites of involvement include lymph nodes, peritoneum, and retroperitoneal structures. Nodules can be seen 3 months to 20 years after hysterectomy.
Typical radiographic findings include well-circumscribed solitary or multiple pulmonary nodules ranging in size from a few millimeters to several centimeters in diameter scattered among normal interstitium. A miliary pattern is less common. Additionally, there are single case reports of benign metastasizing leiomyoma manifesting as cavitary lung nodules and interstitial lung disease. Typically, nodules are not calcified and do not enhance after IV contrast medium administration.
Pulmonary nodules usually show little change and may even spontaneously regress. Endobronchial and pleural sparing is characteristic.
Most pathologists now accept these lesions as hematogenous metastases from morphologically benign uterine tumors, although there is a continuum with lesions that show increased mitotic activity. Some authors have proposed classifying the latter cases as low-grade leiomyosarcoma.
- References
- 1. Jautzke G, Muller-Ruchholtz E, Thalmann U. Immunohistological detection of estrogen and progesterone receptors in multiple and well differentiated leiomyomatous lung tumors in women with uterine leiomyomas. Pathol Res Pract. 1996;192:215-223.
2. Lipton JH, Fong TC, Burgess KR. Miliary pattern as presentation of leiomyomatosis of the lung. Chest. 1987;91:781-782.
3. Shin MS, Fulmer JD, Ho KJ. Unusual computed tomographic manifestations of benign metastasizing leiomyomas as cavitary nodular lesions or interstitial lung disease. Clin Imaging. 1996;20:45-49.
4. Abramson S, Gilkeson RC, Goldstein JD, Woodard PK, Eisenberg R, Abramson N. Benign metastasizing leiomyoma: clinical, imaging, and pathologic correlation. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2001;176:1409-1413.
- Keywords
- Lung, Benign tumor,