Bone multicentric epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the lower and upper extremities with pulmonary metastases: A case report

The present study reports a rare case of bone multicentric epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EH) involving the upper and lower extremities simultaneously, with visceral involvement of the lung. Osteolytic lesions were first identified in the right distal femur and proximal tibia. Slight increased radionuclide uptake was observed in the right shoulder joint on bone scintigraphy, however, this was ignored, as no clinical symptoms were present. The patient was initially misdiagnosed with multifocal chondroblastoma, and an extra-articular curettage of lesions was performed in the proximal tibia and medial femoral condyle, which was filled with bone cement. The histopathological diagnosis was corrected post-operatively following immunohistochemical analysis, which indicated EH, and subsequently, an amputation of the right leg at thigh level was performed. In addition, multiple lytic lesions in the right shoulder joint and pulmonary metastases were identified on whole-body radiological examination. Radiotherapy was administered to the right shoulder joint, however, the patient refused chemotherapy or further surgery. At 15 months after the initial surgery, the patient currently remains alive. This case indicates that an improved understanding with regard to the clinical features of this disease may prevent misdiagnosis and improve EH treatment.