# Leiomyosarcomas of the Great Saphenous Vein: Diagnostic and Therapeutic Strategies to Prevent Unplanned Excisions and Improve Oncologic, Functional, and Psychological Outcomes

## TL;DR

This study examines the treatment and outcomes of nine cases of leiomyosarcomas in the great saphenous vein, emphasizing the importance of proper diagnosis and surgical management to avoid unplanned excisions.

## Contribution

The paper presents a new case series of GSV-LMS and proposes diagnostic and therapeutic strategies to improve patient outcomes.

## Key findings

- Unplanned excisions can be avoided with early clinical and imaging suspicion.
- Surgery with re-excision and adjuvant radiotherapy leads to good oncologic and functional outcomes.
- No local recurrences or metastases were observed in the studied patients.

## Abstract

Background/Objectives: There are very few publications on unplanned excisions of great saphenous vein leiomyosarcomas (GSV-LMS), and their impact on the prognosis of the disease is not well known. The objective of this study is to present a series of nine new leiomyosarcomas of the great saphena vein (LMS-GSV) cases, with the aim of increasing diagnostic awareness and proposing guidelines for therapeutic management. Methods: This is a prospective single-centre study of a series of nine GSV-LMS in thigh (stage IIIA AJCC), knee and proximal leg (IB, 1 II and 3 IIIA), and ankle (2 IIIB and 1 II). Eight patients were female, and the mean age was 72 years. All patients were surgically treated. Five (56%) were unplanned excisions. All these patients were reoperated on to attempt wide resection margins. In a patient, an infra-patellar amputation was performed. Another amputation was refused by another patient. Eight patients received adjuvant radiotherapy. Results: One patient died 8 years after amputation for a reason other than LMS. The patient who refused amputation has been alive, disease-free, for 28 months. The mean follow-up of surviving patients was 39 months (6–78 months). In these patients, there were no local recurrences or metastases. The mean functional outcome according to the MSTS score was 28.9 (range: 24–30). Conclusions: Unplanned excision of GSV-LMS can be prevented through clinical and imaging suspicion. Surgery and re-excision in case of inadequate previous margins and adjuvant radiotherapy lead to a good oncological and functional outcome.