Premium
Characteristics of 64 sarcoma patients referred to a sarcoma center after unplanned excision
Author(s) -
Dyrop Heidi Buvarp,
Safwat Akmal,
Vedsted Peter,
MarettyKongstad Katja,
Hansen Bjarne Hauge,
Jørgensen Peter Holmberg,
BaadHansen Thomas,
Keller Johnny
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of surgical oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.201
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1096-9098
pISSN - 0022-4790
DOI - 10.1002/jso.24137
Subject(s) - medicine , sarcoma , leiomyosarcoma , referral , surgery , medical diagnosis , medical record , malignancy , lipoma , soft tissue sarcoma , general surgery , radiology , soft tissue , family medicine , pathology
Background and Methods Unplanned excision of sarcoma before referral to specialist centers can affect prognosis and surgical outcome. The diagnostic pathway of these patients is uncertain and needs to be reviewed. We aimed to describe patient and tumor characteristics, initial symptoms, initial and final diagnosis, and explore reasons for unplanned excision in this patient group. From a previous study on 258 sarcoma patients, we identified 64 patients referred after surgery. Medical records were reviewed. Results The majority were soft tissue sarcomas, most often with thoracic location. Leiomyosarcoma was the most frequent final diagnosis, lipoma, and fibroma/dermatofibroma the most frequent initial diagnoses. Fifty percent were superficial small tumors, and 60.9% had not received diagnostic imaging before surgery. Fifty percent were referred from public surgical departments, and 1/3 from private specialists. Twenty‐three patients had initial presence of alarm symptoms registered before surgery, the remaining 2/3 fell outside referral criteria or alarm symptoms were not discovered. Conclusions Patients referred after unplanned excision often have small superficial tumors and the majority fall outside of defined referral criteria. Referral criteria are not a guarantee for detection of all sarcomas and surgeons should always be aware of the possibility of malignancy when removing a tumor. J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;113:235–239 . © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.