Case of the month: Leiomyomas

A 26-year-old male with AIDS presented with a chief complaint of headaches and neck pain. An MRI revealed two enhancing extra-axial dura based masses, one in the area of the left sphenoid wing and one at the level of C2-3. In both cases, microscopic sections showed actin positive spindle cell neopla sms with long slender nuclei, consistent with leiomyomas. Both tumors were positive for Epstein Barr virus by in situ hybridization. This case report serves to emphasize the importance of considering soft tissue tumors such a s leiomyoma in the differential diagnosis of mass lesions that occur in the central nervous system in AIDS and discusses the role of EBV in tumorigene sis.