Epithelioid angiosarcoma: A rare cause of pericarditis and pleural effusion.

Angiosarcomas are rare cancers accounting for less than 2% of all soft tissue sarcomas. We report the case of an unusual presentation of pleural epithelioid angiosarcoma in a patient with constrictive pericarditis and recurrent pleural effusion. A 62 year old smoker presented with acute chest pain. ECG showed diffuse elevation of ST segments in the precordial leads. After extensive evaluation, he was diagnosed with viral pericarditis and treated with colchicine. Two weeks later the patient presented to the emergency department with a large right pleural effusion. Evaluation of the pleural fluid obtained from a thoracentesis revealed an exudative effusion with negative microbial studies and no evidence of malignant cells. His pleural effusion re-accumulated rapidly, requiring repeated thoracenteses over several weeks. Medical thoracoscopy was performed and pleural biopsy revealed primary pleural epithelioid angiosarcoma. Staging PET scan revealed malignant enhancement of right pleura, pericardium, right iliac bone and right shoulder. He died suddenly within 6 weeks of diagnosis, prior to initiating palliative chemotherapy. Pleural angiosarcoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of recurrent pleural effusions of unknown etiology. Negative cytology does not rule out the diagnosis; excisional biopsy is required. Reported risk factors include asbestos exposure, prior chest radiation, active smoking and history of complicated pleural tuberculosis. Pleural epithelioid angiosarcomas carry a very poor prognosis, with the majority of patients dying within months of diagnosis.

A rare cause of oligoarthritis with septic presentation.

A 33-year-old man presented with new-onset, asymmetric, migratory oligoarthritis in the setting of several weeks of nausea and vomiting, diarrhoea, fevers and dysuria. He was initially treated in the inpatient setting with broad-spectrum antibiotics due to concern for an evolving sepsis presentation. Arthrocentesis of a large right knee effusion revealed inflammatory synovial fluid without findings suggestive of septic arthritis. Human leucocyte antigen B27 was positive and, taken together with the antecedent history of gastroenteritis, dysuria and inflammatory oligoarthritis, the clinical diagnosis was most consistent with reactive arthritis. Antibiotics were discontinued. His treatment course proved refractory to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and intra-articular and systemic glucocorticoid therapy with concurrent use of sulfasalazine and ultimately necessitated treatment with a tumour necrosis factor alpha inhibitor.