Primary tumors of the aorta: report of a case and review of the literature.

A patient with an unusual vascular tumor, an angiosarcoma of the upper abdominal aorta, is described. The clinical, radiologic and pathologic features of this case along with 19 previously reported cases of primary aortic tumor are discussed. Primary aortic neoplasms are uncommon. They are histologically and morphologically diverse tumors in which major vascular obstruction and arterial tumor embolization dominates the clinical picture. At present, aortography combined with computerized tomography offer the best means of preoperative diagnosis.