Clinicopathological Features and Treatment Analysis of Rare Aggressive Angiomyxoma of the Female Pelvis and Perineum - a Retrospective Study

Imaging features of a rare giant intra-abdominal aggressive angiomyxoma

Aggressive angiomyxoma (AAM) is a rare benign tumor that arises from connective tissue, prominently located in the vulva, vagina, perineum, and pelvis and is mainly found in women aged about 20-40 years old. Giant intraabdominal tumors have rarely been described. These tumors develop slowly over time and are often difficult to diagnose due to various clinical findings, especially in the early stages. Even though surgery is the primary treatment method, the possibility of complete resection is sometimes limited because the tumor tends to infiltrate nearby structures, leading to local recurrence. Only about 10% of AAM cases can be accurately diagnosed before treatment, which causes ineffective outcomes. This article demonstrates a case of giant intra-abdominal AAM precisely diagnosed by suspicious signs on CT and MRI scans before starting treatment.

Misleading clinical and imaging features in atypical aggressive angiomyxoma of the female vulvovaginal or perianal region: report of three cases and review of the literature

Objectives

Aggressive (deep) angiomyxoma (AAM) is a rare mesenchymal tumor that typically originates from the vulvovaginal region, perineum, and pelvis in adult women. The objective of this case report and literature review is to comprehensively analyze the clinical, imaging, and pathological characteristics of atypical AAM in the female lower genital tract and pelvic floor in order to minimize preoperative misdiagnosis or missed diagnosis and ultimately optimize the clinical management strategy.

Methods

The data of three cases with atypical AAM, which demonstrate similarities with other lesions observed in the female lower genital tract over the past 1.5 years, were retrospectively described. This description included clinical management, images and reports of ultrasonography (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), clinicopathological features, follow-up, and outcomes. In the Discussion section, a review of the literature on MEDLINE (PubMed) and Web of Science from the past 50 years was conducted.

Results

The three cases all underwent preoperative ultrasonography, and two of them also underwent preoperative MRI examination. Complete resection of the lesions was performed in all three cases, followed by postoperative pathological examination. The histopathology of these three cases revealed invasive angiomyxoma, as confirmed by immunohistochemical staining, which demonstrated positive expression of desmin, vimentin, estrogen, and progesterone receptors. The patients experienced a smooth postoperative recovery. Ultrasound had a diagnostic accuracy rate of 100% (3/3) for locating and determining the extent of the lesions; however, its specific diagnostic accuracy rate for identifying the pathological type was only 33% (1/3). In contrast, MRI had a diagnostic accuracy rate of 100% (2/2) for locating and determining the extent of lesions but did not show any specific diagnostic accuracy for identifying the pathological types.

Conclusions

Our findings indicate that even if a vulvovaginal lesion presents with a superficial location, small size, limited scope, and regular shape, suspicion of atypical AAM should arise when palpation reveals toughness, tensility, and deformability under pressure. US reveals a well-defined hypoechoic to anechoic mass with uniformly distributed coarse dot echoes, with or without detectable intratumoral blood flow signal. MRI shows prolonged T1 and T2 signals with inhomogeneous enhancement and evident diffusion restriction on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI).

Aggressive angiomyxoma in pregnancy: a case report and literature review

Aggressive angiomyxoma is an interstitial tumour that is often misdiagnosed and is likely to recur. There have been few reported cases of angiomyxoma in pregnant women. We report a case of a woman who was previously diagnosed with a tumour in her vulva that increased in size during both of her pregnancies and spontaneously decreased postpartum. Local excision was performed and a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist was administered. According to a literature review, aggressive angiomyxoma is associated with good maternal and child outcomes. Caesarean section is not the delivery method of choice, but it is indicated if the tumour is preventing vaginal birth. Treatment for angiomyxoma is mainly postpartum local resection supplemented by hormone therapy. This tumour frequently recurs and patients should undergo long-term follow-up.

Mesenchymal lesions of the vulva

Mesenchymal lesions of the vulva include site-specific entities limited to the lower genital tract, as well as a range of non-site-specific tumors that are more common at extragenital sites. Site-specific lesions include fibroepithelial stromal polyp, cellular angiofibroma, angiomyofibroblastoma, and aggressive angiomyxoma. Non-site-specific tumors that may occur in the vulva include those of smooth muscle, skeletal muscle, vascular, neural, adipocytic, and uncertain differentiation. This review discusses both site-specific and non-site-specific vulvar mesenchymal lesions including non-neoplastic proliferations, benign neoplasms, locally aggressive neoplasms with a predilection for local recurrence, neoplasms of indeterminate biologic potential, and frankly malignant neoplasms with a high risk of distant metastasis and death. Accurate diagnosis is essential for proper management, and is facilitated by correlation with clinical findings and targeted application of immunohistochemical and molecular studies.

Retrospective analysis of clinicopathological features and prognosis for aggressive angiomyxoma of 27 cases in a tertiary center: a 14-year survey and related literature review

PURPOSE

Aggressive angiomyxoma (AAM) is a rare and often misdiagnosed tumor that is characterized by frequent local recurrences. This study aimed to investigate the clinicopathological characteristics, surgical experiences, and prognosis for aggressive angiomyxoma to improve the accuracy of diagnosis and develop treatment strategies for decreasing recurrence rates.

METHODS

Clinicopathological data and follow-up information for 27 patients with AAM diagnosed and treated at the Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University between January 2006 and October 2019 were retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTS

The median age at disease onset among 27 patients was 39 years. The male to female ratio was 1:4.4. Painless and slow-growing mass was the most common symptom. Masses occurring in the perineum and pelvic cavity accounted for 81.5% (22/27). All of the 27 patients underwent surgical treatment. Surgical approaches included transperineal and transvaginal resection. Large pelvic masses were treated with combined abdominoperineal surgery. The postoperative recurrence rate was 37%. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) rate was 64.4% and the median PFS was 132.0 ± 29.6 (95% CI 72.9-190.1). Multivariate Cox proportional analysis found that surgical margin is an independent prognostic factor for PFS (P = 0.018). None of the patients experienced distant metastasis.

CONCLUSIONS

Clinical manifestations of AAM are non-specific. Laboratory testing, imaging examinations, and immunohistochemistry are helpful for diagnosis and differential diagnosis. Surgical approach can be determined according to the relationship between the tumor and adjacent organs and infiltration degree. The development of personalized treatment strategies should aim to achieve a complete resection on the premise of preserving the structure and function of important organs to maintain patient quality of life.

Application of ultrasound in aggressive angiomyxoma: Eight case reports and review of literature

Aggressive angiomyxoma (AAM) is a rare tumour that often occurs in soft tissues of the female genital tract. Eight cases of AAM are reported in this article, and the clinical features and ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results of the eight cases are reviewed and summarized. The main complaints of all the patients were palpable and painless masses in the vulva or scrotum. The lesions were mainly located in the vulva, pelvis, and perineal region, with a large scope of involvement. The sonographic features of AAM were characteristic. On sonography, all of the masses were of irregular shape and showed hypoechogenicity, with a heterogeneous inner echotexture. Intratumoural and peritumoural blood flows were detected by colour Doppler imaging. On real-time ultrasonic imaging, prominent deformation of the lesions was observed by compressing the masses with the probe. Some special imaging features were also revealed, including a laminated or swirled appearance of inner echogenicity, and a finger-like or tongue-like growth pattern. On MRI imaging, the lesions showed intermediate-intensity signals and intermediate to high-intensity signals on TI-weighted and T2-weighted sequences. A rapid and uneven enhancement pattern was demonstrated. After the comparison of sonographic features with MRI and pathological findings, we found the relevance of the ultrasonographic characteristics with MRI and histological features of AAM. Ultrasound can be a valuable imaging method for the preoperative diagnosis, evaluation of scope, and follow-up of AAM.

Transperineal aggressive angiomyxoma

A 45-year-old woman with a history of total hysterectomy with adnexal preservation for uterine leiomyomas presented to our hospital with a right gluteal palpable mass, which she first noticed 6 months before and had progressively enlarged since then.Radiological studies revealed a 14 cm lesion with translevator growth that displaced rather than invaded adjacent structures, with a peculiar whorled pattern on T2-weighted MRI, which enhanced following gadolinium administration. CT-guided biopsy was performed, and in conjunction with imaging features the diagnosis of an aggressive angiomyxoma was assumed and confirmed following surgical excision.