Soft tissue
Vascular
Benign
Lymphangioma
Author: Vijay Shankar, M.D.
Topic Completed: 1 November 2012
Minor changes: 20 January 2021
Copyright: 2002-2021, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed search: Lymphangioma [title] soft tissue
Related topics: Cystic, Lymphangiomatosis, Lymphangiomatous papules / plaques postradiation
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Clinical features | Case reports | Treatment | Clinical images | Microscopic (histologic) description | Microscopic (histologic) images | Positive stains | Negative stains | Electron microscopy description | Additional referencesCite this page: Shankar V. Lymphangioma. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/softtissuelymphangioma.html. Accessed January 20th, 2021.
Definition / general
- May represent malformations due to failure of lymphatics to communicate with venous system
- Most described cases are cystic / cavernous
- Skin tumors are called lymphangioma circumscriptum
Clinical features
- Benign
- See also discussion in these chapters: Lymph nodes, Mediastinum, Skin - nonmelanocytic tumors, Spleen
Case reports
- 13 year old girl with isolated laryngeal lymphangioma (Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2011;63:90)
- 35 year old pregnant woman with large cystic tumor in fetal chest (Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 2008;31:697)
- 58 year old man with conjunctival lymphangioma (Case Rep Ophthalmol Med 2012;2012:836573)
- Secondary lymphangiomas of vulva (Indian J Dermatol 2012;57:149)
Treatment
- Excision if possible (Lymphology 2006;39:147); also sclerotherapy or observation
- Recurrence is minimized by complete excision (Mayo Clin Proc 2006;81:1197)
- Intralesional bleomycin therapy may be an effective alternative to surgery (J Maxillofac Oral Surg 2011;10:152)
Clinical images
Images hosted on other servers:
Conjunctiva
Larynx
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Large lymphatic channels in loose connective tissue stroma
- Focally disorganized smooth muscle in wall of larger channels
- Peripheral lymphoid aggregates
- Often increased mast cells (Mod Pathol 1999;12:569)
Microscopic (histologic) images
Contributed by Mark R. Wick, M.D.
Various images
Images hosted on other servers:
Inferior bulbar conjunctiva
Foot
Larynx
Pleura
Retroperitoneum
Vulva
Positive stains
Negative stains
- Ki67 (or low, Arch Pathol Lab Med 1997;121:1055)
Electron microscopy description
- Poorly developed and discontinuous basal lamina; presence of anchoring fibrils (Arch Pathol Lab Med 1980;104:316)
