Key result
A 63-year-old male presenting with mild clinical symptoms but severe imaging manifestations of pulmonary embolism was correctly diagnosed with pulmonary artery intimal sarcoma via PET/CT and pathology following surgical resection.
Case Report (n=1)
Pulmonary artery malignancy should be suspected when a patient presents with mild clinical manifestations but strong imaging manifestations suggestive of pulmonary thromboembolism.
Mild-symptom severe-imaging PE mismatch warrants sarcoma consideration; single case leaves open PET/CT utility.
Pulmonary artery intimal sarcoma is a highly aggressive disease, and is most often misdiagnosed as pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) due to the similar clinical symptoms and its rarity, which leads to the use of inappropriate treatments such as prolonged anticoagulant therapy. We reported a case of pulmonary artery intimal sarcoma in a patient who was misdiagnosed as having PTE. Pathology after surgery confirmed malignant disease. We concluded that when a patient presents with mild clinical manifestations yet with strong imaging manifestations, pulmonary artery malignancy should be suspected.
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Liu et al. (2017) conducted a case report in Pulmonary artery intimal sarcoma (n=1). Surgical resection and chemotherapy (epirubicin) was evaluated on Diagnosis and clinical course. A 63-year-old male presenting with mild clinical symptoms but severe imaging manifestations of pulmonary embolism was correctly diagnosed with pulmonary artery intimal sarcoma via PET/CT and pathology following surgical resection.
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