Hemangioma of skeletal muscle.An analysis of 89 cases

Histologic sections of 89 hemangiomas of skeletal muscle in the files of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology were reviewed and subclassified into small-vessel, large-vessel, and mixed types. The histologic picture of the small-vessel variety of hemangioma was often alarming and, in some cases, led to an erroneous diagnosis of malignancy. This variety was most common in the 20- to 29-year age group, had a relatively short clinical history, tended to be smaller in size than the other 2 varieties, and usually involved the trunk and upper parts of the body. There was local recurrence in 7 (20%) of the 36 patients followed. The large-vessel type had a similar age incidence, but the median duration of clinical history was longer and the tumors tended to be larger than those of the small-vessel type. The lower limb was the most common location, and only 2 (9%) of the 22 cases followed recurred. The mixed type usually affected patients in the second or third decade; the size of the tumors and the median duration of clinical history were similar to those of the large-vessel hemangiomas, and the trunk was the most common location. Local recurrences were seen in 5 (28%) of the 18 patients followed. Altogether, follow-up information was available in 76 cases, of which 14 (18%) recurred locally, 5 (7%) recurred more than once, but none metastasized.