Rare gastric neoplasm: Malignant glomus tumor of the stomach. A case report.

INTRODUCTION: Glomus tumors are rare neoplasms that aris-e from neuromyoarterial canal or glomus body. They are mainly found in the peripheral soft tissue, extremities and rarely developed inside the gastrointestinal tract. In the gastrointestinal tract, the stomach is the most common site for the development of glomus tumors, and most often found in the antrum. Usually, the symptoms of gastric glomus tumors are non specific i.e (abdominal pain, GI bleeding and/or perforation) and possibly discovered incidentally during upper GI endoscopy. CASE PRESENTATION: This is a-56-year-old-male, presented to the emergency department with upper GI bleeding i.e (melena), and signs of shock (HR: 110; BP:80/60), Blood tests showed Hemoglobin level: 5 g/dl. Resuscitation was started with IV fluid and transfusion of 4 units of PRBCs. After resuscitation, He gave a 10 days history of passing black tarry stool, palpitation, headache, dizziness, easily fatigability, malaise, and colicky epigastric abdominal pain. His abdomen was soft, lax with no tenderness, there was fullness at the left upper quadrant. Upper GI endoscopy was performed that showed a large gastric ulcer with adherent clots, necrotic base and oozing at the proximal part of the greater curvature, after that the bleeding was managed with a heater probe and epinephrine injections. The histopathological examination of the biopsy revealed a spindle and epithelioid tumor with the top differential diagnosis being GIST, however other submucosal lesions cannot be excluded. After that, He underwent exploratory laparotomy and wedge resection of the tumor. The final histopathology showed a malignant glomus tumor. CLINICAL DISCUSSION: Due to overlapping clinical and radiological features between glomus, GIST and other submucosal lesions, the histopathological examination is considered to be the gold standard for the diagnosis. Surgical resection with negative margin is the treatment of choice for gastric glomus tumors. CONCLUSION: Although gastric glomus tumor is a rare entity and accounts for 1% of all gastric mesenchymal tumors, it should be considered in the differential diagnosis, since preoperative biopsy is difficult and overlapping features with other submucosal lesions. Surgical treatment is the preferred option for gastric glomus tumor and long-term follow-up is required due to high metastatic and recurrence rate in the malignant type.

Gastrointestinal autonomic nerve tumors: a clinical review.

PURPOSE: Gastrointestinal autonomic nerve tumors (GANTs) are believed to be rare accounting for 1 % of all malignant gastrointestinal tumors. Many gastrointestinal surgeons and gastroenterologists are unaware of this entity. This review aims to highlight the salient clinical features and prognosis of GANTs. METHODS: Using the common search engines and manual cross-referencing, a search of the English literature was conducted for "gastrointestinal autonomic nerve tumor." RESULTS: All of the published literature on GANTs is either case reports or small case series. From 49 retrieved articles, a total of 107 GANT cases were collected with a mean age of 54 years and equal male to female preponderance. The most commonly affected site was small bowel followed by stomach. Esophageal and colorectal GANTs were less frequent. Clinical presentation was variable ranging from non-specific symptoms, abdominal pain, weight loss, iron-deficiency anemia, to obstruction and gastrointestinal bleeding. Acute presentation due to free rupture or perforation with subsequent peritonitis was extremely rare. Endoscopic and radiological investigations were valuable in tumor localization and determination of distant spread. Thirteen patients were lost to or had no follow-up, leaving 94 patients for long-term outcome analysis. All patients were treated by radical surgical resection of the involved organ as this offered the only hope of cure. Local recurrence, metastases, or both developed in 40 % of cases despite radical surgical resection. Resection for local recurrences and hepatic metastases was feasible in some selected cases. Response to adjuvant chemoradiation was poor and imatinib mesilate was effective in cases of metastatic or inoperable CD117-positive GANTs. CONCLUSION: Radical surgical resection of GANTs is the mainstay of treatment. The aggressive behavior after radical resection coined with the poor response to adjuvant chemotherapy call for the urgent need to develop new adjuvant therapies.

Gastrointestinal autonomic nerve tumor of the stomach.

PATIENT: Female, 32 FINAL DIAGNOSIS: Gastrintestinal Autonomic Nerve Tumor (GANT) Symptoms: anemia • anorexia • fatigue • fever • hearburn • nausea • weight loss MEDICATION: - Clinical Procedure: - Specialty: Gastroenterology and Hepatology. OBJECTIVE: Rare disease. BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal autonomic nerve tumors (GANT) are extremely rare tumors that are related to gastrointestinal autonomic nervous plexuses. They are distinguished from stromal tumors by their unique ultrastructural features. Hence, their diagnosis is usually made on electron microscopy and immunohistochemical analyses. Although they are apparently slow-growing tumors, they run an aggressive clinical course and often associated with poor prognosis which eventually leads to death. CASE REPORT: We report on a case of gastric GANT in a young female who was treated surgically by total gastrectomy. The disease, however ran an aggressive course with the development of distant (nodal, liver, lung, adrenal and musculo-skeletal) metastases two months after the radical resection. CONCLUSIONS: We believe this could be the first reported case of adrenal and musculo-skeletal metastases from gastric GANT soon after the radical gastric resection.

Frequency of low bone mineral density in Saudi patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Metabolic bone disease is common in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Our aim was to determine the frequency of bone loss among Saudi patients with IBD and possible contributing risk factors. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: We retrospectively reviewed Saudi patients with IBD, between 18 and 70 years of age, who had bone mass density (BMD) determined by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scanning at one of three hospitals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from 2001 to 2008. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Case notes and BMDs results were carefully reviewed for demographic and clinical data. Low bone mass, osteopenia, and osteoporosis were defined according to the WHO guidelines. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Predictive factors for BMD were analyzed using group comparisons and stepwise regression analyses. RESULTS: Ninety-five patients were included; 46% had Crohn's disease (CD) and 54% had ulcerative colitis (UC). The average age was 30.9±11.6 years. Using T-scores, the frequency of osteopenia was 44.2%, and the frequency of osteoporosis was 30.5% at both lumbar spine and proximal femur. Only 25.3% of patients exhibited a BMD within the normal range. Our results revealed a positive correlation between the Z-score in both the lumbar spine and the proximal femur and body mass index (BMI) (P=0.042 and P=0.018, respectively). On regression analysis BMI, age, and calcium supplementation were found to be the most important independent predictors of BMD. CONCLUSIONS: Saudi patients with IBD are at an increased risk of low BMD and the frequency of decreased BMD in Saudi patients with CD and UC were similar. BMI and age were the most important independent predictors of low BMD.

An unusual bile collection after postcholecystectomy bile leakage.

Leakage from the cystic duct stumps accounts for the majority of postlaparoscopic cholecystectomy leaks. It commonly presents with a localized bile collection in the gallbladder fossa and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) with biliary stenting is a common method of treatment. However, bile may collect in other intra-abdominal locations away from the gallbladder fossa. We present here a case of a patient who developed upper abdominal pain with distension, anorexia, and vomiting a week after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Ultrasonography and computed tomography scans showed an intra-abdominal collection and ERCP showed a cystic duct stump leak. A biliary stent was inserted and the collection was percutaneously drained. His symptoms, however, recurred 2 weeks later, with fever, anorexia, and weight loss. Abdominal computed tomography scan showed 9.3x8.5 cm cystic mass in the left hypochondriac area and ERCP showed persistent leakage from the cystic duct stump. The stent was changed to a larger size Fr12 and the collection was again drained percutaneously. His clinical condition improved dramatically. The biliary stent was removed after 8 weeks and remained well at 9-month follow-up.

Laparoscopic diagnosis of splenic tuberculosis.

Isolated tuberculous splenic microabscesses are uncommon except in immunocompromized patients. The diagnosis is often made after splenectomy and histologic examination of the spleen. We report here a case of splenic tuberculosis in an immuno-competent patient. The diagnosis was made solely by laparoscopic biopsy of the spleen without the need for splenectomy. The patient was started on antituberculosis therapy with marked recovery. We believe that this might be the first reported case of isolated splenic tuberculosis ever diagnosed by laparoscopy only.

Pseudomyxoma peritonei.

Pseudomyxoma peritonei is very rare, and its exact pathogenesis is unknown. It is characterized by intra-abdominal extracellular gelatinous fluid collections. We report a case of pseudomyxoma peritonei in a 38-year-old Saudi male who presented with right iliac fossa mass and weight loss. He was treated initially as an appendicular mass and computed tomography was helpful in making the diagnosis. He was treated by laparotomy, right hemicolectomy and omentectomy, but no perioperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy was instilled. He received postoperative chemotherapy and remained alive with no recurrence at 18-month follow-up.