Hemangioendothelioma of the Thyroid Review of the Literature and Report of a Case

Abstract

O NLY 2 cases of hemangioendothelioma of the thyroid have been described in American patients (1,2). In Switzerland, on the other hand, this form of malignant goiter occurs in 16.2 per cent of thyroid cancers (Matti (3)). We recently had the opportunity to study such a tumor in the Hertzler Clinic. CASE REPORTA 67-year-old white female was admitted to the Halstead Hospital on July 7, 1951. She stated that in 1931 she had a goiter operation in another hospital and got along very well until February 1950, when the right side of her neck began to enlarge steadily and became harder. She did not notice rapid heart beat or shortness of breath. Her appetite was good but she had lost 30 pounds of weight during the past year.Family history: The father died at the age of 79, the mother at the age of 30, of unknown cause. One brother died of cancer. The patient had five full-term pregnancies; the children are living and well. One of the daughters has a goiter.Physical examination revealed a well developed and well nourished white female of the stated age. A large mass was found on the right side of the neck. It was movable and felt cystic and nodular to touch; there was no evidence of fixation to the surrounding tissues. The left lobe of the thyroid was slightly enlarged and felt nodular. No tumors were noticed in the breast. The lungs were clear to auscultation and percussion. The clinical impression was recurrent nodular goiter.At operation (by VEC) on July 23, 1951 under local anesthesia, a portion of the previous scar was removed. A definitely encapsulated tumor, about the size of a hen's egg, was found on the right side of the thyroid. At the lower pole of the right lobe were several colloid nodules. The encapsulated adenoma and the colloid nodules were removed, leaving a small posterior portion of the right lobe. A nodular colloid enlargement was exposed on the left side and most of the left lobe was removed.Pathologic report: The tumor removed from the right side of the neck weighed 65 grams and the two pieces of the left lobe weighed 20 grains. The solitary tumor had an oval form and measured 6 cm. in length and 4.5 cm. in diameter. The surface of the tumor was smooth and of yellowish brown color. Fragments of thyroid tissue were attached to the capsule in two places. Cross section revealed a large cystic cavity filled with light-brown coagulated fluid and some fresh red blood. The cavity was surrounded with a zone of rubber-like consistenc} r , which contained numerous irregular slit-like spaces filled with dark red fluid. The cyst wall was of yellowish gray color, very firm

Primary epithelioid angiosarcoma of the thyroid: A case report

“…Thyroid angiosarcoma (TAS) is a rare mesenchymal tumour of the thyroid gland with vascular differentiation. Despite first being described in 1953, the aetiopathogenesis of TAS is still not completely known 1 . The majority of cases reported in the literature have been individuals from mountainous areas, typically those living in alpine regions of Europe including Switzerland, northern Italy, and Austria 2 , 3 .…”

Primary Epithelioid Angiosarcoma of the Thyroid: Long-Term Survival Case Report and Literature Review

“…In contrast to other thyroid cancers, thyroid angiosarcoma is seen predominantly in aged (>60 years old) women, with a history of long-standing goiter followed by rapidly growing neck masses. Clinically, common presenting symptoms include sense of neck lump, shortness of breath, dysphagia, weight loss and local pain [7][8][9][10].…”