We report two cases of uncommon vascular lesions (Littoral cell angioma and liver haemangioma) mimicking traumatic organ injuries. The patients' histories and clinical findings of trauma were well demonstrated. Both patients had interesting CT scan features that were suggestive of solid organ injuries. However, both conditions were subsequently found to be benign incidental lesions.
Renal angiomyolipomas are innocuous benign tumours which rarely behave aggressively. This is a case of a 48 year old Malay lady presenting with right sided abdominal pain associated with a large right sided abdominal mass. She was diagnosed with renal angiomyolipoma of the right kidney complicated by inferior vena caval tumour thrombosis. She successfully underwent a radical nephrectomy and inferior vena caval thrombectomy using cardiopulmonary bypass and deep hypothermic circulatory arrest.
Extra-adrenal paragangliomata are uncommon entities. They can be classified into four basic groups according to their anatomical sites, i.e. branchiomeric, intravagal, aorticosympathetic and visceral autonomic. Similar tumours may arise in sites away from the usual distribution of the sympathetic and parasympathetic ganglia, e.g. orbit, nose, small intestine and even in the pancreas. We report three instructive cases of extra-adrenal paraganglioma which were found in unusual sites such as urinary bladder, thyroid gland and on the wall of the inferior vena cava.
Angiosarcoma is one of the rarest types of malignant vascular tumours that involved the head and neck region. It predominantly affects the scalp and superficial soft tissues. Angiosarcoma arising from the deep cervical soft tissue is extremely rare. There is a limited literature on neck angiosarcoma that occurred simultaneously with papillary thyroid carcinoma. We report a rare case of concurrent papillary thyroid carcinoma and cervical epithelioid angiosarcoma, and postoperative rapid progression of residual angiosarcoma that mimicked a neck haematoma. The diagnostic challenge and possible etiologies have been discussed here.
Glomus tympanicum is a highly vascular tumour traditionally treated surgically via a post-auricular approach. We present here the first published case in Malaysia where total excision was achieved transcanal endoscopically. The procedure was safe, quick and effective due to the better visualisation of the surgical field with the endoscope. Haemostasis was achieved with a modified suction catheter that performed as a functioning suction diathermy.
Tinnitus is a common disorder, it can be classified as pulsatile and non-pulsatile or objective and subjective. Pulsatile tinnitus is less common than non-pulsatile and can be due to vascular tumour such as glomus or vascular abnormality. We presented an interesting case of a 30 year-old Malay lady with a two-year history of pulsatile tinnitus which was worsening in three months duration. It was associated with intermittent headache. Clinical examination and tuning fork test were unremarkable. Apart from mild hearing loss at high frequency on the left ear, the pure tone audiogram (PTA) was otherwise normal. In view of the patient's young age with no risk factor for high frequency loss, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed to look for any abnormality in the cerebellopontine angle. It revealed a single vessel looping around the left vestibulocochlear and facial nerves at the cisternal portion, likely a branch of the anteroinferior cerebellar artery (AICA). Literature review on the pathophysiology and treatment option in this condition is discussed.