CASE REPORT article
Front. Surg.
Sec. Pediatric Surgery
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2025.1638718
The strategic use of embolization in treating infantile fibrosarcoma-related heart failure: a case report
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Rome Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy
- 2Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital (IRCCS), Rome, Lazio, Italy
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Introduction: Infantile fibrosarcoma (IFS) represents the most common non-rhabdomyosarcoma soft tissue tumor, with 80% of diagnoses under the first year of life. In contrast with adult fibrosarcoma, IFS has lower risks of metastasis, better long-term survival rate, and higher chemosensitivity. Conservative surgery, in association with chemoradiotherapy in case of metastasis or recurrence, usually represents the gold standard treatment. Case: We examined the case of a 2-month-old female patient affected by retroperitoneal congenital fibrosarcoma, which had caused high-flow heart failure (HFHF) due to its hypervascularization and multiple arteriovenous fistulas. Given the complexity of the case and its atypical vascularization, after multidisciplinary discussion, we decided to perform an endovascular approach rather than a surgical one, aiming to interrupt pathological flow to this abdominal mass. The procedure was well tolerated with fast improvement in both clinical and ultrasound markers of heart failure. Conclusion: This is the first instance of arteriographic application for the management of HFHF caused by hypervascularized retroperitoneal IFS that we are aware of. In conclusion, we advise using this approach because of its safety and effectiveness, even though it necessitates a high level of experience.
Keywords: infantile fibrosarcoma (IFS), high-flow heart failure (HFHF), Arteriography, Embolization, case report
Received: 31 May 2025; Accepted: 16 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bartoli, Cassanelli and Natali. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Maria Elisabetta Bartoli, bartoli.mariaelisabetta@gmail.com
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.