EPITHELIOID LEIOMYOMA OF THE LARYNX

We describe the pathological features of a case of laryngeal epithelio id leiomyoma (leiomyoblastoma) which, to our knowledge, is the second case to be reported in the world literature. A review of the literatur e confirmed that leiomyoma as such is a very rare neoplasm in the lary nx, and only 33 cases have been previously reported. The neoplasm was located in the left vocal cord and consisted of mainly epithelioid, ro und or spindle-shaped cells, often with clear cytoplasm, which were ar ranged predominantly in solid nests and sheets. The tumour cells showe d positive immunoreactivity for smooth muscle actin and desmin. The tu mour showed low mitotic activity and immunostaining with MIB 1 (Ki-67) accordingly revealed the occasional cell only to be positive, confirm ing a low proliferative activity in agreement with a benign neoplasm. Epithelioid leiomyomas located in other sites have been shown to act o ccasionally in a malignant fashion, and the necessity for careful long -term follow-up of the patient is therefore emphasized.