[Leiomyosarcoma of the vena cava. Case report and review of the literature].

The leiomyosarcoma of vascular origin is a very rare tumor which is rarely recovered before the disease has reached an advanced stage because of non-specific and late symptoms. This is a report of 3 cases with leiomyosarcoma of the vena cava and a review of the literature. A high local recurrence rate and high frequency of distant metastases are responsible for the bad long-term prognosis. Early hematogenous tumor spread is favored by intraluminal tumor growth. Only complete surgical resection--if necessary with vascular reconstruction--can improve the bad long-term prognosis.