Hemorrhage in cerebral metastasis from angiosarcoma of the heart: case report

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to describe the clinical and pathological features of metastatic angiosarcoma in the central nervous system. Only a few cases of cerebral metastasis from angiosarcoma of the heart have been recorded in the literature; particulary related to intracerebral hemorrhage. A case of secondary cerebral angiosarcoma of the heart in a 33 years old man is presented. The initial symptoms were headache, vomiting, lethargy and aphasia. There was a mass in the left temporal lobe with hemorrhage and edema on the computerized tomography (CT). After 24 hours the neurological status worsened and another CT scan showed rebleeding on the tumor area. He underwent an emergency craniotomy but died two days after. Considering the longer survival of sarcoma patients with new modalities of treatment, the incidence of brain metastasis may increase, demanding a bether preventive and more aggressive approach. Besides, due to the hemorrhagic nature of such lesions, we suggest the imediate surgery to prevent a fast and lethal evolution because rebleeding.