A large primary retroperitoneal vaginal leiomyosarcoma: a case report

INTRODUCTION: Primary vaginal leiomyosarcomas are uncommon, especially those growing outside the vagina.Out of all malignant vaginal neoplasms, leiomyosarcomas account for about 2%. Reports in the literature mostly concern the pathology of these tumors; few reports have been published that discuss how to surgically remove them. CASE PRESENTATION: A 69-year-old Chinese woman presented with a mass in her buttocks that had been present for more than four months. Computed tomography demonstrated a mass of approximately 12.0×9.5×8.0cm in her retroperitoneal space. We resected the tumor via a posterior incision, and resected part of her sacrum and coccyx. The resected tumor was diagnosed by its pathological features as a leiomyosarcoma. Our patient received adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery. She was free of disease at a one-year follow-up and her general condition is good. CONCLUSIONS: We report a rare case of a primary vaginal leiomyosarcoma that was resected through an approach that has not, to the best of our knowledge, been previously reported. This case report adds valuable knowledge to the sparse available literature on the surgical treatment of vaginal leiomyosarcomas.