Hemangioma of Rib: A Different Perspective

Abstract

SummaryBackgroundHemangiomas are one of the common primary benign tumors of the intraosseous and soft tissue compartments in humans. Vertebral hemangiomas being the most common of all are seen in daily radiological practice. Hemangioma of the rib is rarely seen.Case ReportWe reported on a case of a rib lesion which had a classic imaging pattern of hemangioma. We highlighted the use of pre-operative embolization of such a vascular rib lesion before surgically removing the lesion by thoracotomy to reduce the risk of bleeding.ConclusionsWe also emphasized overt complications of overzealous needling of such a vascular lesion for histopathological diagnosis as in our case.

Clinicopathological characteristics of costal hemangiomas: a case report and literature review

“…6 However, critical bleeding and hematoma formation were reported in some patients who underwent a biopsy. 7 The pathological diagnosis of a hemangioma in biopsy specimens is challenging to the pathologist because of disrupted blood vessels and empty spaces caused by loss of red blood cells during the procedure. Therefore, biopsy should be avoided unless multiple myeloma or metastasis is suspected.…”

Hemangioma of the rib showing a relatively high 18F-FDG uptake: a case report with a literature review

“…On CT, rib hemangioma often shows three features, i.e. bone disruption, extraosseous lesion, and expanded bone ( 2 – 23 ) ( Table 1 ). Nineteen of the 24 hemangiomas showed bone disruption and 18 of the 24 hemangiomas showed extraosseous lesions.…”

“…A mainstay treatment for hemangioma is reported to be surgical resection ( 20 ). In our review of the literature, resection was conducted in all cases.…”

“…In our review of the literature, resection was conducted in all cases. In some cases, embolization was conducted preliminary to reduce intraoperative blood loss or bleeding after biopsy ( 20 , 21 ). Resection of the tumors was often performed without biopsy.…”

“…Preoperative embolization of large rib hemangioma can reduce the size ( 20 ), and cement or alcohol injection have been conducted as treatment of vertebral hemangiomas ( 24 ).…”