Rhabdomyoma

Rhabdomyoma is a rare, completely benign tumor. It is a variant of rhabdomyosarkoma. Both tumors originate from the mesenchyme, specifically from striated skeletal muscle. This tumor was described by Jaroslav Hlava for the first time – most famous Czech pathologist, the first professor of pathology at the newly established Czech Medical Faculty in Prague.

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 children 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 glycogen, 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 prove, 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.

Related articles

 * Mesenchymal tumors
 * Cardiac tumors
 * Rhabdomyosarkoma