Pleurodesis Can Be Effective in Treating Pneumohemathorax Caused by Malignant Hemangioendothelioma

Abstract

The patient was a 69-year-old man afflicted with a malignant hemangioendothelioma (MHE) of the scalp. We tried to treat him using rIL-2 (total dose, Celeuk^® 118,000,000 JRU, Imunace^® 4,550, JRU), but he ultimately died of dyspnea caused by intra-thoracic metastasis of the MHE. In the course of treatment, pleurodesis with rIL-2 and bleomycin was effective in treating the intractable pneumohemothorax caused by the metastasis of the MHE. Although the efficacy of rIL-2 has been confirmed in localized MHE, there are no effective therapies for MHE metastasis. The application of pleurodesis seemed to significantly improve the patient’s QOL.