Pneumothorax due to Metastasis of Angiosarcoma to the Lung / 대한흉부외과학회지

ABSTRACT

An 80 year-old male with a medical history of angiosarcoma of the scalp visited the Emergency Department complaining of dyspnea, and the chest X-ray revealed pneumothorax. He has undergone scalp resection and radiotherapy three years ago due to angiosarcoma. Due to a persistent air leak, he underwent wedge resection of the lung and was pathologically diagnosed with metastatic angiosarcoma to the lung. He underwent radiotherapy following the lung resection, but he died from his disease at 15 month following surgery due to further aggravation of the lung metastasis. Angiosarcoma is a highly malignant tumor and it frequently occurs on the scalp and face in elderly patients. Angiosarcoma frequently metastasizes to the lung and it may cause pneumothorax as a consequence of a ruptured cavitary lesion. We report here on a case of pneumothorax that was caused by lung metastasis in an elderly patient with a history of angiosarcoma of the scalp.