Successful surgical management of a recurrent leiomyosarcoma of the inferior vena cava

Abstract

The leiomyosarcoma of the inferior vena cava (IVC) is a rare malignant tumour of the venous system. The recurrence of the tumour after previous initial surgical resection is common and occurs in more than half of the patients. Surgical resection of a local recurrence is poorly described in the literature and the available data are restricted to a small number of cases. We report the case of a 62 year old woman, who was referred to our vascular surgical unit for recurrence of a leiomyosarcoma of the inferior vena cava, 35 months after diagnosis and initial surgical treatment. We performed an extensive local resection and circumferencial replacement of the IVC. 18 months after the second operation and adjuvant radiotherapy, the patient is in a very good physical condition and CT-scans show no evidence of tumour recurrence.

Leiomyosarcoma of the inferior vena cava. Our experience and a review of the literature

“…Furthermore, complementary therapies, such as radio-and chemo-therapy often prove insufficient oncological control. The recurrence of the tumor after previous initial surgical resection is commonly diagnosed and occurs in the majority of the patients [36]. As a particularity, in our case, during a follow-up of four years, no recurrence of the tumor was identified, in comparison with other reported cases who underwent more than 20 surgical reinterventions after the primary surgery.…”

Mesenchymal tumour of the inferior vena cava

“…In this data of 218 patients, radical resection was performed in 61.5 %, palliative resection in 11.9 %, and 26.6 % were inoperable [1,10]. Furthermore, Segment III tumours had an independent increased risk of death [12]. The second largest cohort evaluated was by Laskin et al in 2010, which concluded that complete surgical resection resulted in the best possibility of longterm survival; their study reported a 50 % 5 year survival [13].…”