Giant solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura

Abstract

Introduction: Solitary fibrous tumors of the pleura (SFTP) are rare mesenchymal tumors representing <5% of all tumors of the pleura. Literature reveals only two case series and a few solitary reports. Case report: A 68-year-old male presented to our hospital after experiencing exertional dyspnea. A chest CT revealed a giant heterogeneous mass. CT-guided transthoracic core needle biopsy demonstrated SFTP. The well-circumscribed, encapsulated resected mass was measured to be 30 cm × 21 cm × 15 cm and weighed 6900 g. Discussion: SFTP are a rare pathology of the pleural cavity, which most of the time develop from submesothelial fibroblasts of the visceral pleura. Due to their non-characteristic clinical picture, SFTP are usually diagnosed in the later stages of the development. A significant issue in the management of giant SFTP is radical resection of the tumor to relieve compression of the lung parenchyma and other mediastinal structures. Conclusion: SFTP are rare neoplasms that fortunately are benign 80% of the time. Only a few cases of giant SFTP that cover almost the entire pleural space are described in the literature. This report represents one of the largest resected SFTP reports in the literature.