Epithelioid malignant mesothelioma presenting with features of gastric tumor in a child.

ABSTRACT

Localized malignant mesothelioma is very uncommon and mainly arises in pleura and peritoneum, and preferentially occurs in older adults. In this article, we report a case of a Localized malignant mesothelioma that was developed in the stomach of a 6-year-old boy. This boy was admitted to hospital for anemia. An epigastric mass was palpated through systemic physical examination and MR scanning demonstrated an 8×6 cm-sized, well-defined elliptic mass at gastric corpus. Partial resection of the stomach was performed for this boy and no nodules were found on the liver, peritoneum, and other abdominal sites in surgery. In view of the morphological and immunohistochemical findings, a diagnosis of localized malignant mesothelioma, epithelial type was made. This is the first case report of localized malignant mesothelioma arising in the stomach of a child. Accumulation of more cases of malignant mesothelioma involving gastrointestinal tract and longer follow-up of the patients are necessary to further characterize the features of this rare disease.