Primary choriocarcinoma of the lung

system is generally poor, irrespective of whether the location is in the pulmonary parenchyma or the main airway. Angiosarcoma of the pulmonary parenchyma is invariably fatal within months because metastases are usually present at the time of detection, and chemotherapy thus far has not proved effective. The clinical course of solitary angiosarcoma of the main airway is also dismal in previous reports.2,4 However, mortality of these patients was mainly caused by massive and intractable hemoptysis of the small resectable tumor rather than by the invasiveness of the disease. From the experience of successful treatment of this patient, angiosarcoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a primary tracheal tumor. Furthermore, prompt surgical intervention with adequate resection margins is recommended in the management of these patients when the disease is localized at detection. References 1. Spragg RG, Wolf PL, Haghighi P, Abraham JL, Astarita RW. Angiosarcoma of the lung with fatal pulmonary hemorrhage. Am J Med. 1983;74:1072-6. 2. Tuppy H, Kolb R, Eckmayr J. Primary epitheloid angiosarcoma of the proximal trachea. Pathologe. 2000;21:460-3. 3. Sheppard MN, Hansell DM, Du Bois RM, Nicholson AG. Primary epithelioid angiosarcoma of the lung presenting as pulmonary hemorrhage. Hum Pathol. 1997;28:383-5. 4. Palvio DH, Paulsen SM, Henneberg EW. Primary angiosarcoma of the lung presenting as intractable hemoptysis. Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 1987;35:105-7. 5. Egermayer P. Epidemics of vascular toxicity and pulmonary hypertension: what can be learned? J Intern Med. 2000;247:11-7. 6. Stout AP. Hemangio-endothelioma: a tumor of blood vessels featuring vascular endothelial cells. Ann Surg. 1943;118:445-64. 7. Tsang WY, Chan JK, Fletcher DC. Recently characterized vascular tumors of skin and soft tissues. Histopathology. 1991;19:489-501.