Open AccessEnteroscopy in the diagnosis of melanoma metastases
Author(s) -
M.M. Díaz Alcázar,
Antonio José Ruiz-Rodríguez,
Francisco Javier Casado Caballero,
Alicia Martín Lagos Maldonado
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
revista española de enfermedades digestivas/revista española de enfermedades digestivas
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.331
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 2340-4167
pISSN - 1130-0108
DOI - 10.17235/reed.2020.6820/2019
Subject(s) - medicine , enteroscopy , melanoma , radiology , melanoma diagnosis , general surgery , dermatology , endoscopy , cancer research
We present abdominal computed tomography and enteroscopy images of a 48-year-old male patient with a previous melanoma who presented with epigastric pain. The pain was not controlled with medical management. Abdominal computed tomography and a histological study of biopsies form enteroscopy confirmed the diagnosis of metastatic melanoma. The gastrointestinal involvement of melanoma is usually metastatic. Symptomatic gastrointestinal involvement occurs in less than 5% of melanomas, although postmortem analyses have reported up to 70%. The clinical presentation is variable and usually presents as abdominal pain. The diagnosis of small intestinal involvement of melanoma is a challenge due to its poor accessibility. The enteroscopy has a fundamental role as it allows a direct visualization and biopsies to be taken for histological study.