Giant Angioleiomyoma of Knee Presenting as Painless Ulcer: The First Case Report

Intra-articular leiomyoma of the knee mimicking a ganglion cyst in a child: A case report and review of literature

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE

Angioleiomyoma is a rare benign soft tissue tumor of smooth muscle getting its origin from the muscular layer of vessel walls. The localized type of leiomyoma occurs on the skin, deep soft tissues, in the genitourinary, gastrointestinal, and respiratory tracts.

CASE PRESENTATION

We report a case of a 16-year-old patient who presented with an intra-articular leiomyoma developed in the anterior cruciate ligament and treated with arthroscopy.

CLINICAL DISCUSSION

Angioleiomyoma can occur anywhere in the body and is most often seen in the extremities, particularly the lower limbs, but is very rare in the knee joint. Angioleiomyoma should be included in the differential diagnosis of nodular lesions mimicking loose body, such as lipomas, inclusion cysts, ganglion, pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS), fibroma, nodular synovitis, hemangioma, synovial sarcoma, myopericytoma, leiomyosarcomas, glomus tumor.

CONCLUSION

Angioleiomyoma related to the cruciate ligaments of the knee should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a painful knee especially when associated with a decreased of range of motion of knee. The arthroscopic debridement should be considered the treatment of choice in order to reliably restore active ROM.

The diagnosis and arthroscopic treatment of angioleiomyoma presenting loose body in the knee joint: two case reports

Background

Angioleiomyoma is a very rare benign solitary soft tissue neoplasm originating from smooth muscle layer of blood vessels. The tumor is usually located in the subcutis or the superficial fasciae, but less often in the deep fasciae, especially rare in the knee joint cavity. Diagnosis is frequently delayed or misdiagnosed as loose body or anterior knee pain because of its rare occurrence and poor awareness of physicians. Few studies have presented intra-articular angioleiomyoma and such cases become rarer and more difficult to diagnose when it presents as loose body.

Case presentation

Two patients, a middle-aged man and an old woman, presented to our outpatient clinic with persistent anterior knee pain and both of them suffered from a solitary mass in the right knee that had slowly enlarged. One of two patients showed negative in the routine radiographic imaging and the other showed a “loose body” beside the lateral femoral condyle in the knee. MRI showed both a well-demarcated intra-articular mass of isointense signal to muscle on T1-weighted images and heterogeneous intensity on T2-weighted images. Their tumors were excised under arthroscopy finally, with the pathological results revealed vascular leiomyomas. They both recovered well with pain free after operation and no signs of recurrence were seen at the 7-year follow-up.

Conclusions

This case report illustrates the atypical locations of angioleiomyoma in the knee joint should arouse our attention and be included in the differential diagnosis of nodular lesions mimicking loose bodies.

Clinical and Sonographic Evaluation of a Lower Extremity Angioleiomyoma in a 52-Year-Old Woman

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this case study is to describe the role of sonographic examination in the initial evaluation of an angioleiomyoma and to discuss the characteristic findings associated with this soft tissue mass.

CLINICAL FEATURES

A 52-year-old woman presented with a large, tender, erythematous mass on the anterolateral aspect of her right knee. Sonographic examination revealed a highly vascular mass within the subcutaneous tissues. Differential considerations included benign soft tissues masses such as angioleiomyoma and hemangioma.

INTERVENTION AND OUTCOMES

Surgical consultation was recommended. Excisional biopsy was performed. Histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of angioleiomyoma.

CONCLUSION

Although ultrasonographic findings of a superficial soft tissue mass may be nonspecific, when a highly vascular, well-defined, slow-growing mass is present, angioleiomyoma should be included in the differential diagnosis.