Rhabdomyoma

Rhabdomyoma is a rare, completely benign tumor. It is a variant of rhabdomyosarkoma. Both tumors originate in the mesenchyme, specifically in striated skeletal muscle.

Division
thumb | 240px | Cardiac rhabdomyoma The tumor can appear both prenatally and postnatally. 2 forms are distinguished:
 * adult;
 * fetal.

According to the location of the tumor, 2 types are distinguished:
 * cardiac (in the heart), it may manifest in association with tuberous sclerosis or alone;
 * extra cardiac (soft tissue), head, neck.

Macroscopy
The tumor commonly occurs in childer up to 1 year of age. Macroscopically  it presents as multiple light nodes in the myocardium, which protrude into the heart chambers.

Microscopy
right|thumb|240px|Microscopic image of fetal rhabdomyoma In the microscope we can see large cells with abundant cytoplasm filled with vacuoles of glykogenu, in between the vacuoles are thin strips of cytoplasm between the nucleus and the cell membrane – the so called spider cells. In addition we can detect actin and desmin in the neoplastic cells, which proves, that the neoplastic cells originate from the muscle.

Prognosis
Depends on the extent of the disease. If the child survives, the nodes regress over time.

Související články

 * Nádory mezenchymové
 * Nádory srdce
 * Rhabdomyosarkom