Pulmonary lymphangitis sarcomatosis: a rare cause of severe progressive dyspnoea

Abstract

Pulmonary lymphangitis carcinomatosis is a complication of malignancy with a poor prognosis. We describe an unusual case in which it caused ventilatory failure and unfortunately death in a previously well male in his 70s. Abnormal chest imaging led to a wide differential diagnosis with Bronchoscopy confirming malignant cells. MRI of his pelvis and biopsy was done diagnosis of metastatic leiomyosarcoma, a particularly aggressive malignancy. Sarcoma-related lymphangitis carcinomatosis is rarely described in the literature and this is the first case to our knowledge of its association with leiomyosarcoma.

Radiation Recall Pneumonitis: The Open Challenge in Differential Diagnosis of Pneumonia Induced by Oncological Treatments

“…On CT images of the chest, the diffusion is variable; it can be unilateral or bilateral, localized or diffuse and is characterized by nodular or diffuse intrapulmonary infiltrates, irregular thickening of the interlobular septum, smooth thickening (initial stage) or nodular (late development), hilar and mediastinal lymphadenopathy and the opacity of ground glass. These features are also present in other interstitial lung diseases, thus having a low diagnostic specificity, but despite this, CT, and in particular high-resolution CT (HRCT), is the suggested technique for the study of patients with suspected PLC [ 151 , 152 , 153 , 154 , 155 , 156 , 157 , 158 , 159 , 160 , 161 ].…”