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Spontaneous regression of pulmonary leiomyomas during pregnancy
Author(s) -
Horstmann Joseph P.,
Pietra Giuseppe G.,
Harman John A.,
Cole Norman G.,
Grinspan Salomon
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(197701)39:1<314::aid-cncr2820390148>3.0.co;2-n
Subject(s) - medicine , pregnancy , regression , obstetrics , gynecology , statistics , genetics , biology , mathematics
Multiple pulmonary nodular densities simulating metastatic cancer were discovered in a routine chest roentgenogram of a 30‐year‐old pregnant woman. Lung biopsy revealed nodules composed of smooth muscle and collagenous tissue containing entrapped glandular elements. The lesions were initially interpreted as multiple pulmonary fibroleiomyomatous hamartomas (MPFLH). During pregnancy and the post‐partum period, the pulmonary nodules regressed spontaneously. Critical analysis of the published cases as well as our own case indicates that multiple pulmonary fibroleiomyomatous hamartomas (MPFLH) cannot be distinguished from benign metastasizing leiomyoma (BML) by either clinical, roentgenographic, or pathologic criteria and that all represent pulmonary metastases from a primary uterine neoplasm. The spontaneous regression of the pulmonary nodules in the present case as well as the increased risk for development of progressive pulmonary insufficiency in the pre‐menopausal patients indicates an apparent hormonal dependence. Total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo‐oophorectomy appears to be the treatment of choice.