Primary leiomyosarcoma of the chest wall in a child : a case report

Leiomyosarcoma is an uncommon soft tissue sarcoma of mesenchymal cell origin which shows smooth muscle differentiation. Leiomyosarcoma is seldom found in the pediatric population and accounts for fewer than 2% of all soft tissue sarcomas. Leiomyosarcoma of the chest wall is extremely rare in children. We report here a case of an 8-year-old boy with a primary leiomyosarcoma that was incidentally found as a rib mass. The patient underwent a complete resection for a suspected osteochondroma diagnosed by a three-dimensional chest computed tomography examination .P athological findings of the mass revealed intersecting fascicles of spindle cells showing cigar-shaped nuclei inconspicuous nuclear pleomorphism and occasional mitotic figures in the background of a suspected osteochondroma of the rib. This report documents the first description of a leiomyosarcoma possibly arising in an osteochondroma of the rib in a child. (Korean J Pediatr 2008;51:98-101