Khoury Charbel El, Taihi Lokmane, Evrard Robin, De Roo An-Katrien, Lecouvet Frédéric, Schubert Thomas
Department of Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery, Cliniques Universitaires Saint Luc, Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), Hippocrate Avenue 10, B-1200, Brussels, Belgium.
Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging, Cliniques Universitaires Saint Luc, Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), Hippocrate Avenue 10/2942, B-1200, Brussels, Belgium.
Skeletal Radiol. 2025 Jun;54(6):1347-1352. doi: 10.1007/s00256-024-04813-1. Epub 2024 Oct 12.
Soft tissue tumors, whether benign or malignant, may grow over time or remain stable, but they usually do not spontaneously decrease in size. However, there are exceptions, such as inflammatory conditions, desmoid tumors, or benign cysts. Intramuscular myxomas are benign soft tissue tumors that typically present as a solitary, slow-growing, painless mass. They are generally treated by surgical resection, after which recurrence is rare. Here, we present a brief series of three unusual cases of intramuscular myxomas that spontaneously decreased in size. They were located in the cervical region, the right lower extremity, and the paravertebral lumbar region. Imaging findings and percutaneous biopsies confirmed the diagnosis in all cases. Follow-up imaging showed a spontaneous reduction in lesion volume over time, far exceeding the amount of tissue sample removed during biopsy. This unusual observation of spontaneous shrinkage may call into question the subsequent therapeutic approach to these lesions.
软组织肿瘤,无论良性还是恶性,可能会随时间增长或保持稳定,但通常不会自行缩小。然而,也有例外情况,如炎症性疾病、硬纤维瘤或良性囊肿。肌内黏液瘤是一种良性软组织肿瘤,通常表现为单个、生长缓慢、无痛性肿块。一般通过手术切除进行治疗,术后复发罕见。在此,我们简要介绍三例不寻常的肌内黏液瘤病例,这些病例的肿瘤大小自行缩小。它们分别位于颈部、右下肢和腰椎旁区域。影像学检查结果和经皮活检在所有病例中均确诊。随访影像学显示,随着时间推移,病变体积自发缩小,远远超过活检时切除的组织样本量。这种不寻常的自发缩小现象可能会对这些病变后续的治疗方法提出质疑。