Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of the lung in a child: case report and literature review

Primary Pulmonary Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma in a Pediatric Patient: A Case Report With Literature Review

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a rare soft tissue tumor originating from skeletal muscle that is mostly reported in children. The most common sites of involvement are the head, neck, and extremities. The 2020 WHO classification divide RMS into four types: embryonal, alveolar, pleomorphic, and spindle cell/sclerosing. Reports of RMS with primary lung origin are rare. We present a case of RMS in a 16-month-old boy who presented with a lung mass and microscopic examination with fluorescence in situ hybridization confirmed the diagnosis of alveolar RMS. In conclusion, RMS should be considered in the differential diagnosis of any lung mass with small round blue cell morphology in the microscopic evaluation and should be distinguished from metastatic RMS of other sites, pleuropulmonary blastoma, lymphoma, neuroblastoma, primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET)/EWING, and malignant peripheral nerve sheet tumors (MPNST).

Primary Pulmonary Rhabdomyosarcoma in a Child

A 9-year-old female presented with fever, cough, and hemoptysis for a week. The chest skiagram and contrast-enhanced computerized tomography delineated a well-defined solid lesion localized to the superior segment of the right lower lobe with features of a congenital pulmonary airway malformation. The lesion was surgically managed with a segmentectomy and histopathology confirmed a contained pulmonary rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS). No other primary site of origin was evident, and a final diagnosis of “primary” pulmonary RMS was made. She received adjuvant chemotherapy and was disease free after 6 years of surveillance. The unique clinicoradiological features of the case are discussed and the sparse literature is reviewed.