EMBOLIFORM SARCOMA OF THE RIGHT PULMONARY -ARTERY

Sarcoma of the pulmonary artery is a rare tumor. The histopathologic f eatures of these tumors differ widely, with leiomyosarcomas representi ng less than 20 % of all pulmonary sarcomas. Diagnosis is very difficu lt because most of the cases have no specific clinical signs: the majo r differential diagnosis is that of pulmonary thromboembolism. We repo rt the case of a 45-year-old woman, who was first treated for pulmonar y thromboembolism until the diagnosis of an intravascular growing tumo r was made by means of computed tomography, pulmonary angiography and nuclear magnetic resonance tomography. The patient underwent right pne umonectomy and microscopically a leiomyosarcoma of the right pulmonary artery was found.