Clinical and pathological diagnosis of malignant hamartoma

When it comes to hospitals, we would rather avoid going there, even though we want to avoid it as much as possible. However, if we are sick, we should detect, diagnose and treat it early to prevent the disease from further developing and making it more difficult to cure. Here I will introduce the clinical pathological diagnosis of malignant hamartoma:

Hamartomas can originate from many tissues, and are commonly found in the lungs (localized or diffuse hamartomas formed by a mixture of cartilage islands, bronchial epithelium and glands, and localized hyperplasia), kidneys (angiomyolipomas), breasts (breast hamartomas formed by mammary lobular fat), and infant livers (mesenchymal hamartomas). When clinical and X-ray findings cannot rule out a malignant tumor, surgery should be performed as soon as possible. Even for benign hamartomas, early surgery can avoid complications such as pneumonia, atelectasis, and bronchiectasis caused by tumor enlargement, which can aggravate or complicate the condition. How to diagnose a hamartoma:

1. Medical history and symptoms: It is more common in adults and is generally asymptomatic. If the tumor is large and grows near or inside the bronchus, there may be irritating cough, expectoration, dyspnea caused by airway obstruction, obstructive pneumonia and other symptoms. Occasionally, there may be hemoptysis and cyanosis.

2. Physical examination findings: There are usually no positive signs, or there are localized weakened breath sounds and wheezing. When there is inflammation, infection or obstructive atelectasis, corresponding lung signs will appear. 3. Auxiliary examinations: (i) X-ray chest examination is the main method. The chest film shows a single round or oval shadow with smooth edges of varying sizes, which may be lobed. Calcification or low-density shadows can sometimes be seen in the tumor. (ii) CT chest scan is more helpful for diagnosis. (iii) Transthoracic lung biopsy helps to confirm peripheral lung tumors.

Warm reminder: Renal angiomyolipoma is a benign tumor composed of blood vessels without normal elastic tissue, smooth muscle and mature adipose tissue. Small ones are often asymptomatic, while large ones are prone to bleeding, necrosis and cystic changes. Those with less fat components are easily misdiagnosed as renal cancer.

Regular health checks can detect tumors early. Women with acute abdominal pain accompanied by intra-abdominal masses or internal bleeding symptoms should consider the possibility of this disease.