Abstract
We experienced a rare case of hepatic rhabdomyosarcoma in an adult. The patient was a 79-year-old woman who had been followed for chronic hepatitis C. An abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan detected a tumor measuring 5.6 cm in diameter in the anterior segment of the liver. The preoperative diagnosis was hepatoceller carcinoma. Right anterior sectorectomy of the liver and partial resection of the transverse colon were performed. The histopathological diagnosis was rhabdomyosarcoma of the liver. Three months after the operation, recurrence near the diaphragm was noted and right colostomy was performed.
Five months after the first resection, an abdominal CT scan detected multiple tumors in the remnant liver. The patient received chemotherapy (vincristine/actinomycin-D/cyclophosphamide). Despite an initial good response to chemotherapy, she complained of severe side effects and rejected further chemotherapy. She died at 9 months after the primary surgical resection. Rhabdomyosarcomas are the most common soft-tissue sarcomas among children and young adults. In mature adults however, they are very rare. We report a case of a primary rhabdomyosarcoma of the liver in a 79-year-old woman who died only 9 months after a curative operation.
