Liposarcomatous differentiation in diffuse pleural mesothelioma

Our plain-English summary of Liposarcomatous differentiation in diffuse pleural mesothelioma, by J. Krishna, M.T. Haqqani (Thorax, 1993).

The study

• Authors: J. Krishna, M.T. Haqqani
• Journal: Thorax
• Published: 1993;48(4):409-10
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 10 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

A case history is presented of a woman who died eight hours after hospital admission with severe breathlessness. At necropsy the right lung was encased in a thickened pleura with a large tumour. Histological examination of the tumour showed pleural mesothelioma with liposarcomatous differentiation. The lungs showed changes of asbestosis and the asbestos fibre count was significantly raised. Liposarcomatous differentiation in pleural mesothelioma has not been reported previously.

In plain English

This was a case report of one patient, from Walton Hospital, Liverpool. A 77 year old woman with two weeks of breathlessness died eight hours after hospital admission, before a diagnosis could be made. She had worked in a chemical packing factory for 20 years in her youth. The article did not name a fiber type. At necropsy (autopsy), her right lung was encased in thickened pleura that was continuous with a large tumour. Under the microscope, the tumour showed a pleural mesothelioma with two parts: an epithelial glandular part and a part showing liposarcomatous differentiation, meaning it resembled a fatty-tissue cancer. Tumour in the left lung and a mass in the heart's left atrium consisted entirely of liposarcoma. Both lungs showed changes the authors called fairly typical of asbestosis, with numerous asbestos bodies. The asbestos fibre count was in excess of 11 million fibres per gram of dried lung, against a normal count of 30 000-35 000. The authors concluded the tumour was liposarcomatous differentiation in a diffuse mesothelioma, which had not been reported before. They added that two separate primary tumours could not entirely be excluded.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: case report (single patient, with necropsy)
• Who was studied: one 77 year old woman with a two week history of breathlessness, examined at necropsy by the Department of Histopathology, Walton Hospital, Liverpool
• Exposure: work in a chemical packing factory for 20 years in her youth; the article does not name an asbestos fiber type or describe the asbestos source
• Main results:
  • The patient died eight hours after admission, before a diagnosis could be achieved
  • At necropsy the right lung was encased in thickened pleura continuous with a large tumour, which formed a mass of 7 x 5.5 x 3 cm in the upper lobe
  • The right pleura was diffusely infiltrated by a tumour with a sarcomatous pattern and abundant typical lipoblasts. An adjacent mesothelioma with an epithelial glandular component was also present.
  • The tumour in the left lung (lower lobe) consisted entirely of liposarcoma
  • The tumour in the left atrium was entirely myxoid liposarcoma spreading via the pulmonary veins. The pulmonary trunk was occluded by a large embolus.
  • Both lungs showed changes fairly typical of asbestosis, with numerous asbestos bodies
  • The asbestos fibre count per gram of dried lung was in excess of 11 million fibres, compared with a normal fibre count of 30 000-35 000
• The authors' conclusion: The authors believed the tumour was liposarcomatous differentiation in a diffuse pleural mesothelioma rather than two separate primary tumours. They stated that this had not been observed or reported previously.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Because the liposarcomatous and epithelial components were not intermingled, the authors said two separate primary malignant tumours could not entirely be excluded

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Pleural Mesothelioma, Autopsy, Pleura.

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