Angioleiomyoma of the hard palate: Report of a case and clinical, imaging, immunohistochemical analysis

Abstract

Angioleiomyoma, also known as vascular myoma or vascular leiomyoma, is a rare benign tumor originating from smooth muscle cells of the tunica media of blood vessels, characterized by numerous blood vessels and spindle-shaped smooth muscle cells. A 40-year-old Korean female was referred with a 14 × 8 × 6 mm pedunculated, elastic mass on the right hard palate. She reported the lesion had been present for one year without pain or noticeable growth. MRI showed a uniform signal pattern with heterogeneous hypo-intensity on T1-weighted and hyper-intensity on T2-weighted images. The tumor was excised under local anesthesia. Histopathology showed cytoplasmic positivity for SMA, Desmin, and Caldesmon, and negativity for pan-cytokeratin, S-100, CD31, CD34, and HMB45. Based on these findings, the lesion was diagnosed as angioleiomyoma. This represents the first reported case of angioleiomyoma occurring in the hard palate in Korea.