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Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumors. Benign or Malignant? The Role of MRI and Ultrasonography in A Case Report
Author(s) -
Chatzistefanou Alexandros,
Mantatzis Michalis,
Deftereos Savas,
Mintzopoulou Paraskevi,
Prassopoulos Panos
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of neuroimaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1552-6569
pISSN - 1051-2284
DOI - 10.1111/j.1552-6569.2012.00731.x
Subject(s) - medicine , thigh , radiology , lesion , physical examination , hematoma , ultrasound , malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor , thrombosis , magnetic resonance imaging , neurological examination , venous thrombosis , surgery , neurofibromatosis
A 31‐year‐old male patient admitted to another hospital for investigation of a localized painful hump in the medial surface of his left leg. The clinical examination revealed a painful palpable lump in the medial surface of left thigh that was initially thought to be a hematoma due to a history of recent trauma. However, an ultrasound was requested to exclude deep venous thrombosis (DVT). The US examination revealed a heterogeneous, fusiform lesion with elongated proximal and distal projections in close proximity to superficial femoral artery and vein and could not definitely exclude the DVT hypothesis. In a second ultrasound examination performed in our department, a neurogenic origin of the lesion was proposed. A consequent MRI examination confirmed the presence of a fusiform tumor in the anatomic path of the saphenous nerve. This was further confirmed intraoperatively, and pathologically was diagnosed as a malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST). In this present study the role of ultrasonography, the correlation between MRI and ultrasonographic findings are discussed and a review of the literature is presented.