International Surgery Journal | February 2021 | Vol 8 | Issue 2 Page 754
International Surgery Journal
Singh V et al. Int Surg J. 2021 Feb;8(2):754-756
http://www.ijsurgery.com
pISSN 2349-3305 | eISSN 2349-2902
Case Report
Pleomorphic leiomyosarcoma of colonic mesentery: an unusual cause of
lower GI bleed - case report and literature review
Vandana Singh*, Lalit Aggarwal, Priya Hazrah, Shadan Ali, Ashok Kumar, Anup Mohta
INTRODUCTION
Leiomyosarcoma is a malignant mesenchymal tumour
originating from smooth muscle cells typically of uterine,
gastrointestinal or soft tissue origin. Leiomyosarcomas
arising from each site has unique clinical, radiological
and histological features.
1
The underlying mechanism of
development remain unclear. Leiomyosarcomas arise
from smooth muscle of blood vessels in the mesentery.
Majority of them arise from stomach and small intestine
mesentery. However primary pleomorphic
leiomyosarcoma of mesocolon with LGI bleeding are
extremely rare. These tumours are highly aggressive and
surgery is probably best option for treatment. Because of
rarity of tumour, standard chemotherapy regimen is not
yet established.
CASE REPORT
A 27-year-old gentlemen presented with complaints of
pain in left upper abdomen for two months with a
progressively increasing abdominal mass since one
month, associated with complaints of anorexia, weight
loss and chronic constipation. Single episode of massive
rectal bleeding causing drop in haemoglobin level from 9
ABSTRACT
Mesenteric masses are infrequent lesions ranging from benign cyst to aggressive malignancies and often present as
diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. The mesentery is a frequent recipient of metastasis from the gastrointestinal
tract, pancreas, and biliary cancers. Primary mesenteric tumours are relatively rare, mostly mesenchymal in origin and
benign in nature. Examples include gastrointestinal stromal tumours and smooth muscle tumours. Pleomorphic
leiomyosarcoma of mesocolon is extremely rare with a reported incidence of 1:350,000. So accurate preoperative
diagnosis of mesenteric soft tissue tumours is generally difficult. It accounts for less than 1% of the malignant
tumours found in colon. Leiomyosarcoma is a malignant tumour arising from smooth cell lineage. These tumours
occur most commonly in middle aged individuals. We describe a case of pleomorphic leiomyosarcoma arising from
the colonic mesentery in a 27-year-old male patient, with massive lower gastrointestinal bleed (LGI bleed) causing
drop in haemoglobin level from 9 mg/dl to 6 mg/dl. Ultrasonography and CECT abdomen suggestive of
(17.5×11.6×10.6) cm mass in left side upper abdomen in splenic hilar region. Left hemicolectomy with excision of
mass with splenectomy and distal pancreatectomy done. The diagnosis was based on histopathological evaluation
using immunohistochemistry (IHC). Histopathological report suggestive of pleomorphic leiomyosarcoma with SMA
and vimentin positivity on immunohistochemistry but CD 34 and CD 117 were negative, differentiating it from GIST.
Keywords: Leiomyosarcoma, Mesentery, Lower gastrointestinal bleed
Department of General Surgery, Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi, India
Received: 02 November 2020
Revised: 15 January 2021
Accepted: 18 January 2021
*Correspondence:
Dr. Vandana Singh,
E-mail: vandana.chauhan51@gmail.com
Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under
the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2349-2902.isj20210399