Intra-abdominal rhabdomyosarcoma in a paediatric patient presenting as acute appendicitis

Abstract

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a form of soft tissue sarcoma that can arise from muscle or fibrous tissue almost anywhere in the body. The two major subtypes of RMS are alveolar and embryonal, whereas the two rarer subtypes are pleomorphic, which typically occurs in adults, and the spindle cell/sclerosing variant, typically seen in children. RMS usually involves the extremities, the head and neck or the genitourinary system. Although it can arise from anywhere in the body, other sites of involvement are rare and usually present only at an advanced stage owing to a mass effect on surrounding tissues and organs. We present a rare case of a child who presented with the signs and symptoms of an acute abdomen, but intraoperatively was found to have a bleeding necrotic mass arising from the anterior abdominal wall. This was histologically confirmed to be a RMS of the embryonal type.