Case report: Pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (PEH) on a young woman
Megumi Morishita Yasushi Ono Komei Yanase Fumitaka Ito Junki Endo Shinya Minatoguchi
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Gifu University Hospital
Pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (PEH) is a rare neoplasm of endothelial origin that occasionally presents with multiple pulmonary nodules in young women. It has not yet been reported whether this disease affects pregnancy. A 34-year-old woman was referred to our hospital for further evaluation after multiple nodular shadows were detected on a chest X-ray at a medical checkup. She complained of no symptoms. The computed tomography showed multiple- and various-sized nodules up to 10 mm in diameter in the bilateral lung field. To obtain a detailed diagnosis, video-assisted thoracoscopic lung biopsy was performed. Upon histopathological examination, the center of the nodule was occupied by a hyalinized matrix, the periphery of the nodules showed intra-alveolar proliferation of the tumor cells, and immunohistochemical staining of these cells was positive for Factor-8-related antigen, CD31, and CD34. Therefore these pulmonary lesions were diagnosed pathologically as PEH. She became pregnant and gave birth; medical follow-ups continued without treatment for more than 5 years. Yet she still complained of no symptoms. This case suggests that PEH did not affect the pregnancy and delivery.
Multiple nodular shadows of the lung Pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma Intravascular bronchioloalveolar tumor
Received 19 Dec 2013 / Accepted 30 Apr 2014
AJRS, 3(5): 685-689, 2014