Angioleiomyoma presenting as a nodular swelling of leg: Report of a rare painful benign soft tissue tumor

Abstract

Angioleiomyoma is a slow-growing benign pericytic tumor originating from the tunica media layer of blood vessel wall and represents 4–5% of all benign soft tissue tumors. Vascular leiomyomas show a greater predilection for the lower extremities than other superficial leiomyomas. Excisional biopsy of the tumor is both diagnostic and curative, with a low recurrence rate reported in the literature and excellent prognosis. Malignant transformation is very rare. Whenever a patient presents with a painful mass in the lower extremity, the diagnosis of leiomyoma should be considered. We present a case of a 30-year-old male with angioleiomyoma of left lower leg who presented with painful slow growing nodular swelling since six years. The mass was excised and on microscopic examination a diagnosis of angioleiomyoma was rendered, which was confirmed by positivity for smooth muscle actin on immunohistochemistry. Keywords: Angioleiomyoma, Angiomyoma, Pericytic tumor, SMA, Vascular leiomyoma.