Abstract
Retroperitoneal sarcomas may grow extremely large before becoming clinically symptomatic, and curative resection often has high associated morbidity. An 83-year-old man presented with insidious-onset abdominal pain and weight loss owing to a 16.3 × 13.1 × 25.8–cm retroperitoneal high-grade myxoid spindle cell sarcoma. The patient was ultimately deemed to be unfit for surgery before rapidly succumbing to his disease. This case illustrates both the indolent growth seen in these lesions and the importance of proper patient selection. Older patients with large, high-grade lesions and multiple associated comorbidities are often poor surgical candidates, as the associated surgical morbidity outweighs the potential survival benefit. While the ultimate treatment plan relies on shared decision making by the patient and the healthcare provider, the decision to pursue surgical intervention should take into consideration the patient's broader clinical condition.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 1-2 |
Number of pages | 2 |
Journal | World neurosurgery |
Volume | 152 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 2021 |
Keywords
- Myxoid spindle cell neoplasm
- Paraspinal tumor
- Retroperitoneal sarcoma
- Soft tissue sarcoma
- Spine tumor
- Surgical decision making
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Surgery
- Clinical Neurology