Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the pleura - A rare presentation of a clinical case [Hemangioendotelioma epitelióide da pleura - Uma apresentaç ão rara a propósito de um caso clínico]

Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (ehe) is a vascular tumour with rare pleural presentation. as there are a small number of cases described in the literature the authors present the case of a 65-year-old woman,who was admitted to the emergency department for a right-sided chest pain,which progressed over 7 months,after a thoracic trauma. the chest x-ray showed signs of a moderate right-sided pleural effusion. a pleural-pulmonary biopsy carried out by toracotomy established the histological diagnosis of ehe of the pleura. due to the locally advanced stage of the tumour,chemotherapy with carboplatin and etoposide was prescribed and the patient died 6 months later. this case confirms that pleural ehe has an aggressive behaviour,similar to an angiossarcoma,with a median survival of only a few months after diagnosis.