Hemangiomas of the uterine cervix: Association with abnormal bleeding and pain in young women and hormone receptor expression. Report of four cases and review of the literature

Hemangiomas of the uterine cervix are rare with only about 55 cases reported in the literature. Increased awareness of this unusual cervical lesion can lead to early diagnosis and conservative therapeutic approaches. We present a series of four patients with cervical hemangioma with an extensive review of the existing literature on the subject. All four cervical hemangiomas were diagnosed incidentally in hysterectomy specimens performed for persistent menorrhagia or pain. The mean age at presentation was 34 years. The mean lesion size was 2.1 cm and the dominant location was posterior cervix (3 cases). Immunohistochemistry for estrogen and progesterone receptors showed expression of both markers in endothelial cells and stroma, the latter marker showing a stronger and more diffuse pattern. No other significant uterine abnormality was identified in two cases. The vast majority of cervical hemangiomas reported are in reproductive age women. In addition, these lesions express hormone receptors, indicating that their growth is at least in part due to sex hormone stimulation. Although most lesions are symptomatic (mostly bleeding), the diagnosis is frequently unsuspected. Cervical hemangiomas are benign with no recurrences or adverse outcomes reported to date. Conservative treatments are usually successful, and spontaneous remission has been observed. This entity should be included in the differential diagnosis of patients with abnormal vaginal bleeding, particularly in patients of reproductive age with no other clinical and radiologic findings that would explain the symptoms.