Malignant hemangioendothelioma of the uterus

In the entire world literature, there are only seven reported cases of malignant hemangioendothelioma arising in the uterus. An eighth case, reported here, was a 17-year-old girl who lived for 8 years after curettings and subsequent hysterectomy revealed malignant hemangioendothelioma of the endometrium with extension to the left ovary. Pelvic recurrences were temporarily controlled with chemotherapy, X-ray treatment, and repeated surgery. However, the patient eventually succumbed to massive growth of malignant hemangioendothelioma in the pelvis, with extension into the inferior vena cava and left external iliac vein. Growth within blood vessel lumens was also striking in the surgical specimens of recurrent tumor. Microscopically, the important diagnostic feature was the presence of numerous capillaries lined by malignant endothelial cells.