Malignant fibrous histiocytoma originating at the site of a previous fronto-temporal craniotomy

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) is the most common soft tissue sarcoma in adults. MFH occurrence in the bones of the skull is extremely rare, and, to our knowledge, it has not been reported in a patient with a history of craniotomy. A 69 year-old woman presented with a large mass in the left frontotemporal bone. The patient's medical history included a left frontotemporal craniotomy 8 years prior to the present admission for neck clipping of an aneurysm of the left middle cerebral artery. Following preoperative work up, the skull tumor was resected, and pathology showed that the mass was composed of spindle-shaped fibroblastic cells arranged in a storiform pattern, and of numerous multinucleated giant cells. A diagnosis of MFH was established. The patient died of intracranial hemorrhage from a subsequent tumor 22 months after resection of the first tumor. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.