Bhavsar T, Saeed-Vafa D, Harbison S, Inniss S. Retroperitoneal cystic lymphangioma in an adult: A case report and review of the literature. World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol 2010; 1(5): 171-176 [PMID: 21607159 DOI: 10.4291/wjgp.v1.i5.171]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Tapan Bhavsar, MD, PhD, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Temple University Hospital, 3401 N Broad St, Philadelphia, PA 19140, United States. tapan.bhavsar@tuhs.temple.edu
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol. Dec 15, 2010; 1(5): 171-176 Published online Dec 15, 2010. doi: 10.4291/wjgp.v1.i5.171
Retroperitoneal cystic lymphangioma in an adult: A case report and review of the literature
Tapan Bhavsar, Daryoush Saeed-Vafa, Sean Harbison, Susan Inniss
Tapan Bhavsar, Daryoush Saeed-Vafa, Susan Inniss, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA 19140, United States
Sean Harbison, Department of Surgery, Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA 19140, United States
Author contributions: Bhavsar T conceived the case report, acquired the patient data, searched the literature, and drafted the manuscript; Saeed-Vafa D performed the gross examination of the specimen and made revisions to the manuscript; Harbison S operated on the patient, helped with the gross examination and made revisions to the manuscript; Inniss S helped with the gross examination, performed the histopathological and immunohistochemical evaluation of the specimen, and made critical revisions to the manuscript; and all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Correspondence to: Tapan Bhavsar, MD, PhD, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Temple University Hospital, 3401 N Broad St, Philadelphia, PA 19140, United States. tapan.bhavsar@tuhs.temple.edu
Telephone: +1-215-7073923 Fax: +1-215-7072738
Received: July 30, 2010 Revised: November 25, 2010 Accepted: December 2, 2010 Published online: December 15, 2010
Abstract
Lymphangiomas are rare benign cystic tumors of the lymphatic system. Retroperitoneal lymphangiomas account for 1% of all lymphangiomas, and approximately 186 cases have been reported. They may clinically present as a palpable abdominal mass and can cause diagnostic dilemmas with other retroperitoneal cystic tumors, including those arising from the liver, kidney and pancreas. This report describes the rare case of a cystic retroperitoneal lymphangioma in a 54-year-old male patient. The lymphangioma had progressed to the point of inducing clinical symptoms of abdominal distention, abdominal pain, anorexia, fever, nausea and diarrhea. Radiological imaging revealed a large multiloculated cystic abdominal mass with enhancing septations involving the upper retroperitoneum and extending into the pelvis. Surgical removal of the cyst was accomplished without incident. A benign cystic retroperitoneal lymphangioma was diagnosed on histology and confirmed with immunohistochemical stains.
