Primary intra-abdominal synovial sarcoma

Incidental intra-abdominal synovial sarcoma

Intra-abdominal synovial sarcomas are a rare type of soft tissue sarcomas that arise in the soft tissues of the abdominal cavity. They account for less than 1% of all primary synovial sarcoma cases. We report a case of a male patient in his early 30s who presented to the hospital with abdominal pain of 2 weeks duration. On examination, a mass was felt in the left mid-abdomen. MRI revealed a 12.7 cm×8.2 cm×8.6 cm soft tissue mass on the mesentery of the jejunum. The patient underwent surgical resection of the tumour, and the final pathology was synovial sarcoma, pT2b, grade 3.

A Case of Primary Intra-abdominal Synovial Sarcoma

Synovial sarcomas are relatively common intermediate-to-high-grade malignant soft tissue tumors, often with an initial indolent course. And among the sarcomas primary intra-abdominal synovial sarcoma is a relatively rare entity that may present with an abdominal mass and diagnosis is usually confirmed by immunohistochemistry. The authors report a case of a 46-year-old man who presented with a large palpable abdominal mass. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) scan showed a large well-defined heterogeneous intra-abdominal mass filling the entire pelvis and extending upwards till the subhepatic region causing displacement of intra-abdominal organs. However, no other focal lesions were seen in the solid organs. The same findings were confirmed on surgery. Histopathology was suggestive of desmoid tumor/hemangiopericytoma. Immunohistochemistry showed positive markers corresponding to synovial sarcoma. The patient was advised to undergo chemotherapy which was refused and follow-up was lost. After 10 months, patient presented for follow-up CT, which showed marked increase in size of the lesion.

Monophasic synovial sarcoma of the greater omentum: case report and review of literature

Synovial sarcoma is a malignant spindle cell neoplasm normally arising from tissues around joints, bursa and tendon sheaths. Several reports involving the gastrointestinal tract, mainly the oesophagus and stomach, have been documented; however, the omentum remains an extremely unusual location. Monophasic type is composed exclusively of spindle cells arranged in fascicles. Establishing the correct diagnosis of these tumours could be challenging because of the similarities with gastrointestinal stromal tumours and other mesenchymal tumours with similar histology.

Management of monophasic synovial sarcoma of the small intestine

Although prognosis for patients with intraabdominal synovial sarcoma is poor, laparoscopic wide regional excision may allow for a more prolonged disease-free survival.

Background:

Reports of primary intraabdominal synovial sarcomas are extremely rare.

Methods:

A literature review using PubMed was performed. A retrospective review of the one known case at our institution was completed.

Results:

Even the most experienced pathologists report that synovial sarcomas can be very difficult to diagnose correctly. One cytogenic abnormality that is common (>90%) and pathognomonic for synovial sarcoma is a characteristic chromosomal translocation resulting in the SYT/SSX fusion gene. Wide regional excision has been performed for intraabdominal sarcoma, with improved results. Our patient is more than 24 months with no evidence of recurrent or metastatic disease.

Conclusions:

The prognosis for patients with intraabdominal synovial sarcoma remains poor. However, wide regional excision may allow for prolonged disease-free survival.