Leiomyosarcoma of the esophagus: radiographic findings in 10 patients.

Leiomyosarcomas of the esophagus are rare malignant smooth-muscle tumors that have been described only anecdotally in the radiology literature. The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical and radiographic findings of this unusual lesion.A search of the radiology archives of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology revealed 10 cases of esophageal leiomyosarcomas. Clinical and radiographic findings were reviewed retrospectively.All but one patient presented with dysphagia. The average duration of the dysphagia was 6.7 months, but five patients had dysphagia for 3 or fewer months. Frontal chest radiographs revealed a mediastinal mass in five patients. Barium studies revealed intramural lesions in six patients, intraluminal lesions in two, and infiltrative lesions in two. The intramural Lesions all had large exophytic components, and three contained ulceration or tracking. One of the intraluminal lesions appeared as a polypoid expansile mass and the other, as a smooth expansile sausage-shaped mass...