[Three cases of angiosarcoma complicated with chronic pleuritis].

We report three cases of angiosarcoma complicated with chronic pleuritis associated with tuberculosis. Patient 1 was a 55-year-old man who had received artificial pneumothorax therapy 30 years before. Patient 2 was a 85-year-old man who had suffered from pleuritis for 10 years; and patient 3 was a 72-year-old man who had received plombage thoracoplasty with plastic balls 40 years before. All cases had began with sudden-onset chest pain and bloody sputa. A surgical procedure was indicated in patient 1 only. Conservative therapy was indicated for the other cases because of aging, performance status and systemic metastasis. Prognoses from the onset were 83, 9 and 1 months, respectively. We concluded that angiosarcoma is a disease of equal importance as a malignant tumor to lymphomas appearing in the course of chronic inflammatory diseases such as chronic empyema, and that only aggressive resection, when it is possible, is effective in offering prolonged survival.