Clinical Observations
IMAGING FINDINGS OF MALIGNANT FIBROUS HISTOCYTOMA (MFH) IN THE LUNG
Abstract
Object: To show the characteristic findings of primary malignant fibrous histocytoma (PMFH) in the lung.
Methods: Fifty-one cases of pulmonary PMFH were reviewed, 7 from our hospital and 44 from Chinese literature, altogether 51 cases with chest radiograms, 9 cases with CT scans and 1 case with MRI.
Results: PMFH comprises 0.01% of all pulmonary malignant tumors seen in the same period. The mean age was 55 years. The most common complaints were cough, bemoptysis and chest pain. In 40 followed cases, recurrence/metastasis developed in 15 cases (42.9%), 80% arising within a year. The sites of the lesion were: 34 in the right lobe and 17 in the left lobe. It was peripheral in 49 cases (96.1%) and central in 2 (3.9%). The image findings were: large solitary mass (>5 cm, 68.6%) with regular or irregular margin. Most of the tumors were well-circumscribed (56.9%) or Iobulated (43.1%) with homogeneous attenuation (64.7%). A few of the tumors had cystic change or cavitation. On CT, the lesion showed low attenuation with necrosis. It might involve the adjacent structures.
Conclusions: PMFH of the lung shows no characteristic findings on the images, but in a large mass, with regular, well-defined, less Iobulated, shaggy border or thicken wall, which could be differentiated from carcinomas or benign lesions in the lung. CT and MRI are able to provide useful information in demonstrating the nature and extent of invasion by primary fibrous histocytoma in the lung.
Methods: Fifty-one cases of pulmonary PMFH were reviewed, 7 from our hospital and 44 from Chinese literature, altogether 51 cases with chest radiograms, 9 cases with CT scans and 1 case with MRI.
Results: PMFH comprises 0.01% of all pulmonary malignant tumors seen in the same period. The mean age was 55 years. The most common complaints were cough, bemoptysis and chest pain. In 40 followed cases, recurrence/metastasis developed in 15 cases (42.9%), 80% arising within a year. The sites of the lesion were: 34 in the right lobe and 17 in the left lobe. It was peripheral in 49 cases (96.1%) and central in 2 (3.9%). The image findings were: large solitary mass (>5 cm, 68.6%) with regular or irregular margin. Most of the tumors were well-circumscribed (56.9%) or Iobulated (43.1%) with homogeneous attenuation (64.7%). A few of the tumors had cystic change or cavitation. On CT, the lesion showed low attenuation with necrosis. It might involve the adjacent structures.
Conclusions: PMFH of the lung shows no characteristic findings on the images, but in a large mass, with regular, well-defined, less Iobulated, shaggy border or thicken wall, which could be differentiated from carcinomas or benign lesions in the lung. CT and MRI are able to provide useful information in demonstrating the nature and extent of invasion by primary fibrous histocytoma in the lung.
