Chest Wall Hamartoma in an Adult

Abstract

Letters to the EditorChest Wall Hamartoma in an Adult Brendan Harding, MD, FRCSI, MCh Saad Al-Garni, MB, BS Richard N. de Niord, and MD M. Ashraf AliFRCP(C) Brendan Harding Department of Surgery, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, P.O.Box 3354, Riyadh 11211, Saudi Arabia Search for more papers by this author , Saad Al-Garni Department of Surgery, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, P.O.Box 3354, Riyadh 11211, Saudi Arabia Search for more papers by this author , Richard N. de Niord Department of Surgery, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, P.O.Box 3354, Riyadh 11211, Saudi Arabia Search for more papers by this author , and M. Ashraf Ali Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, P.O.Box 3354, Riyadh 11211, Saudi Arabia Search for more papers by this author Published Online:1 May 1989https://doi.org/10.5144/0256-4947.1989.315SectionsPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload citationTrack citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail AboutIntroductionTo the Editor: A hamartoma is not a true neoplasm but a disorganized overgrowth of normal tissues attributed to an error in development. It is present at birth or appears soon afterward. It grows with the patient and ceases to grow when general body growth ceases. This lesion occurs in many tissues and frequently in the lung. It has occurred only rarely in the chest wall, and then in children under 1 year of age.A 44-year-old woman presented to a peripheral hospital with pain and tenderness in the posterior aspect of the lower chest. A chest x-ray film showed a pleural mass in the left side of the chest posterolaterally. There was no evidence of rib erosion (Figure 1). An open biopsy was performed on the lesion, and histologic examination suggested that it was a mesothelioma. The patient was transferred to King Faisal Specialist Hospital, where a thoracotomy was performed to widely excise this lesion. Frozen section performed peroperatively showed no evidence of malignancy, and the tumor was avulsed quite easily from the chest wall. It had not invaded the ribs. Permanent histopathologic sections showed a mixture of cartilaginous, fibroadipose, and muscular tissue. The cartilage consisted of mature chondrocytes, and in some areas benign mesothelial cells were seen (Figure 2). The patient made an uneventful postoperative recovery.Figure 1. Chest roentgenogram shows pleural mass in the left side of the chest with no evidence of rib erosion.Download FigureFigure 2. Photomicrograph showing mixture of benign adipose tissue, cartilage and spaces lined by mesothelial cells (hematoxylin and eosin stain, original magnification, ×40).Download FigureFollowing a literature search we found no other report of this lesion occurring in the chest wall of an adult. It is likely that this lesion was present for many years, probably since birth, but there was no record of any previous chest x-ray examination of this woman. The onset of symptoms precipitated excision. Previous article Next article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited byWagenaar S and Corrin B (2019) Hamartoma or Mesenchymoma?, Annals of Saudi Medicine , 10:3, (340-340), Online publication date: 1-May-1990. Volume 9, Issue 3May 1989 Metrics History Published online1 May 1989 InformationCopyright © 1989, Annals of Saudi Medicine