Epstein–Barr virus-associated smooth muscle tumour: a distinctive mesenchymal tumour of immunocompromised individuals

Abstract

Summary Immunosuppressed patients are predisposed to the development of smooth muscle tumours which show near consistent association with Epstein–Barr virus (EBV). This report describes a 37-year-old patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome who initially presented with two masses in the liver. Image-guided core biopsy revealed a spindle cell tumour with histological and immunological features of smooth muscle neoplasm which was shown by in situ hybridisation for EBV early RNAs to be EBV-associated. The literature on this uncommon entity is critically reviewed and the differential diagnosis is also discussed.