Cavernous Haemangioma in the Gastrocnemius Muscle: a Rare Presentation in the Geriatric Age Group

Correspondence: Arjun Ballal P.G. Student, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, K.S. Hegde Medical Academy, Nitte University, Mangalore 575018, Karnataka, India. Mobile : +91 84316 44077 E-mail : [email protected] Abstract: Intramuscular haemangiomas are believed to be hamartomatous and are a distinctive type of haemangioma occurring within skeletal muscle. They account for less than 1% of all haemangiomas. They occur more often in trunk and extremity muscles. A sixty five year old lady presented with swelling and pain from the back of the left knee for two years. On clinical examination, a mass of about 10X10 cms in size was noted in the left popliteal fossa. The swelling was tender with well defined borders but fixed to the muscle. She had a flexion deformity of knee of ten degrees. MRI revealed a large encapsulated cystic lesion in the posterior aspect of the muscular compartment of the knee. She underwent excision of the mass, intraoperatively the mass was noted to be arising from the gastrocnemius. Histopathology revealed large cavernous filled spaces filled with blood which indicated a cavernous haemangioma. Most of the literature suggest the occurance of capillary haemangioma to be a commoner one. Occurance of a cavernous haemangioma is usually before the third decade and is congenital in most times. Most of the authors emphasize that radiological methods are generally insufficient for the correct diagnosis of intramuscular hemangiomas, and surgery is the treatment of choice to exclude malignancy and for adequate treatment of these lesions. Hence, the present case which we are reporting here is a rare occurance of a cavernous haemangioma of the gastrocnemius in a 65 year old lady, which was managed by surgical methods.