Mediastinal germ cell tumor complicated by visceral hemangiomatosis

Abstract

This report describes an extremely rare combination of mediastinal germ cell tumor and visceral hemangiomatosis in a 17-year-old boy who initially presented with chest pain and dyspnea. He was treated with chemotherapy consisting of cisplatin, cyclophosphamide, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dactinomycin followed by surgery. Multiple low-density nodules developed in the spleen three weeks later, suggesting metastases from the primary tumor, but the resected specimen showed cavernous hemangiomas within the splenic parenchyma. The patient died of recurrence of germ cell tumor 19 months after the initial treatment. Postmortem examination disclosed multiple hemangiomas in the lung and liver similar to those in the spleen.