A giant aggressive angiomyxoma of vulva in a young woman: A case report

Aggressive Angiomyxoma of the Vulva: Which Is the Best Management Strategy? Description of a Case Report and Review of Literature of the Last Ten Years

BACKGROUND

Aggressive angiomyxoma is a rare mesenchymal tumour of the genital tract with a high incidence in women of reproductive age. The aim of our work is to understand which is the best management strategy for this condition, starting from the description of a rare case report up to the performance of a narrative review of the literature.

METHODS

We report a case of a 46-year-old woman who came to our attention because of the growth of a 10-centimetre pedunculated, non-soft, non-tender mass of the left labium majus. She underwent surgical excision, and the histologic diagnosis was aggressive angiomyxoma. Due to a lack of tumour-free margins, radicalization surgery was carried out after three months. A review of the literature of the last ten years was performed following the PRISMA statement on MEDLINE (PubMed). We obtained data from twenty-five studies describing thirty-three cases.

RESULTS

Aggressive angiomyxoma is characterized by a high recurrence rate of between 36 and 72% after surgery. There is no universal consensus about hormonal therapy, and most studies (85%) describe surgical excision followed by only clinical and radiological follow-up.

CONCLUSION

Wide surgical excision is the gold-standard treatment for aggressive angiomyxoma, succeeded by either clinical or radiological (ultrasound or MRI) follow-up.

Case report and literature review: Rare male aggressive angiomyxoma of the scrotum

Aggressive angiomyxoma (AAM) is an uncommon locally infiltrative tumor that frequently occurs in the pelvic soft tissues of female patients; it has a high rate of local recurrence. However, AAM is extremely rare in males. Herein, we present the case of a 70-year-old man with a gradually enlarging painless mass in the scrotum. The patient underwent local excision of the scrotal AAM, with no local relapse after 17 months of follow-up. In addition to the present case, the clinicopathological features of males with AAM reported in literature (to the best of our knowledge) are discussed in this report. The literature review revealed that the gross morphology, clinical process, and histopathology of AAM in males resemble those of AAM in females. In particular, estrogen receptor/progesterone receptor has been shown to be expressed in male patients, which may provide an option for hormone therapy. Moreover, in males, a lower recurrence rate has been observed after surgery to remove the tumor. However, more data are needed to validate this observation. This report emphasizes the importance of considering AAM as the differential diagnosis of myxoid neoplasms in male genital areas.

Aggressive Angiomyxoma in the Scrotum: A Case Series and Literature Review

Purpose

Aggressive angiomyxoma (AAM) was identified as a distinct clinicopathological entity in 1983. Since then, a few cases of its occurrence in the scrotum have been reported. This case series was performed to increase clinicians' understanding of the clinical features and treatment of AAM in the scrotum.

Methods

We evaluated the clinical presentations, treatments, and follow-up of two patients with AAM in the scrotum in our hospital and 34 cases reported in the literature.

Results

Among the 36 patients, the average age was 48.3 ± 20.6 years old (range from 1 to 81); the average maximum diameter of the tumor was 8.36 cm (1.6–25 cm); the site of one (2.78%) patient was located in the epididymis, two (5.56%) in the testes, five (13.89%) in the spermatic cord, and 28 (77.77%) in the scrotum. The clinical symptoms were generally non-specific and 20 patients inadvertently discovered their slow-growing painless masses. The treatments for all these patients were surgical excision once the tumor had been found and one case underwent excision followed by radiotherapy. The median follow-up time for the remaining 32 cases was 24.5 months (1 to 84 months). Recurrence occurred in three cases (9.09%) at the primary sites and no cases of distant metastasis.

Conclusion

AAM of the scrotum can occur in middle-aged and elderly men. The clinical manifestation generally involves a long history of asymptomatic masses or swelling in the scrotum. Ultrasound is the most commonly used diagnostic technique but magnetic resonance imaging may be more effective. The mainly treatment is surgical excision and postoperative histopathological examination is still the gold standard for its diagnosis. Although it is locally aggressive, metastasis is extremely rare in males.

Retrospective analysis of clinicopathological features and prognosis for aggressive angiomyxoma of 27 cases in a tertiary center: a 14-year survey and related literature review

PURPOSE

Aggressive angiomyxoma (AAM) is a rare and often misdiagnosed tumor that is characterized by frequent local recurrences. This study aimed to investigate the clinicopathological characteristics, surgical experiences, and prognosis for aggressive angiomyxoma to improve the accuracy of diagnosis and develop treatment strategies for decreasing recurrence rates.

METHODS

Clinicopathological data and follow-up information for 27 patients with AAM diagnosed and treated at the Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University between January 2006 and October 2019 were retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTS

The median age at disease onset among 27 patients was 39 years. The male to female ratio was 1:4.4. Painless and slow-growing mass was the most common symptom. Masses occurring in the perineum and pelvic cavity accounted for 81.5% (22/27). All of the 27 patients underwent surgical treatment. Surgical approaches included transperineal and transvaginal resection. Large pelvic masses were treated with combined abdominoperineal surgery. The postoperative recurrence rate was 37%. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) rate was 64.4% and the median PFS was 132.0 ± 29.6 (95% CI 72.9-190.1). Multivariate Cox proportional analysis found that surgical margin is an independent prognostic factor for PFS (P = 0.018). None of the patients experienced distant metastasis.

CONCLUSIONS

Clinical manifestations of AAM are non-specific. Laboratory testing, imaging examinations, and immunohistochemistry are helpful for diagnosis and differential diagnosis. Surgical approach can be determined according to the relationship between the tumor and adjacent organs and infiltration degree. The development of personalized treatment strategies should aim to achieve a complete resection on the premise of preserving the structure and function of important organs to maintain patient quality of life.

Symptomatic vulvar mucinous cyst: A case report and review of the literature

Background

Vulvar mucinous cysts are rare, benign, noninvasive masses. They can be mistaken for cysts of Bartholin gland, Skene gland, vestibular, or canal of Nuck. Generally, they may be left untreated, but observed. However, if symptomatic, they may require surgical removal.

Case

We report a large vulvar mucinous cyst in a 29-year-old woman with no contributory medical history. Excision of the mass was performed because its size had begun to cause symptoms. The diagnosis of a mucinous cyst was based on radiological and clinicopathologic features. The patient developed a post-operative vulvar hematoma and was discharged 2 days after the surgery with a Foley catheter in place. Continued follow-up was maintained for the hematoma, which drained spontaneously and resolved without incident. There has been no recurrence of the cyst after completion of short-term surgical follow-up.

Conclusion

Vulvar mucinous cysts are rare masses. We present the diagnosis and treatment of a large vulvar mucinous cyst. The cyst was completely removed during surgery, but long-term surveillance for recurrence is currently being conducted.

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Large vulvar mucinous cysts are exceedingly rare benign tumors.

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If symptomatic, they can be carefully excised.

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Knowledge of vulvar anatomy is essential to completely excise cyst walls.