A rare occurrence of an incidental primary intra-abdominal Cystic Lymphangioma in a Middle Eastern adult female: A case report

Abstract

Introduction and Importance: Cystic Lymphangiomas (CLs) are rare vascular anomalies of benign nature. The etiology remains a subject of controversy, but they are considered to arise due to anomalies that occur during the normal embryogenic developmental process of lymphatic vessels. They have an estimated incidence rate of merely 1 in every 20,000–250,000 individuals. Since they are mainly known as a disease of the pediatric population, accurate epidemiological rates of CLs, especially in adults, are still unidentified due to the scarcity of published data. Documentation is pivotal to collect further information about them to establish timely diagnoses and minimize the potentially high patient morbidity. Case Presentation: The authors hereby demonstrate the case of a 46-year-old lady who presented to the outpatient general surgery clinic at our university hospital complaining of chronic right hypochondriac abdominal pain. Investigative radiological imaging marked a cystic formation with well-defined borders and homogenous content extending from the lower pole of the right kidney to the lower hepatic border. Clinical Discussion: Surgical intervention was performed by completely resecting the lesion in question. Directly afterward, histopathological analysis was achieved and established the diagnosis of a CL. Conclusion: CL is a rare neoplasm with ill-defined symptoms and ambiguous clinical presentations. They remain poorly studied due to their rarity and lack of sufficient data in the published literature. This magnifies the importance of clinical awareness and time-efficient surgical intervention. Documenting these cases aids in identifying their subsequent etiological origins, disease-specific risk factors, clinical course, and yields proposals of novel therapeutic approaches.