Intimal sarcoma in an ascending aortic Dacron graft mimicking a thrombus

Abstract

Although aortic sarcomas are extremely rare, they may arise in association with a Dacron graft. Here, we report a case of an intimal sarcoma in an ascending aortic Dacron graft implanted 17 years earlier. The patient presented with multiple cerebral infarctions; clinically, a thrombus was found to cause the embolic stroke. He successfully underwent re-replacement of the ascending aorta. Although the initial postoperative histopathological diagnosis was a thrombus, he died of multiple metastases of the malignant tumour after 5 months of the surgery. A histopathological re-evaluation of the explant using immunohistochemistry revealed that the mass was an intimal sarcoma.

Keywords: Aortic tumour; Dacron graft; Intimal sarcoma.