Open AccessPerforation of metastatic melanoma to the small bowel with simultaneous gastrointestinal stromal tumor
Author(s) -
Nathan E. Brummel,
Ziad T. Awad,
Shellaine R. Frazier,
Jiafan Liu,
Nitin Rangnekar
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
world journal of gastroenterology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.427
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 2219-2840
pISSN - 1007-9327
DOI - 10.3748/wjg.v11.i17.2687
Subject(s) - medicine , gist , stromal tumor , melanoma , perforation , exploratory laparotomy , mucosal melanoma , laparotomy , gastrointestinal tract , metastasis , pathology , radiology , surgery , cancer , stromal cell , cancer research , materials science , punching , metallurgy
The gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is a common site of metastases for malignant melanoma. These metastatic tumors are often asymptomatic. We describe a case of a 58-year-old male who presented with a sudden onset of generalized abdominal pain. The patient's past medical history was significant for lentigo melanoma of the right cheek. Laparotomy was performed and two segments of small bowel, one with a perforated tumor, the other with a non-perforated tumor, were removed. Histology and immunohistochemical staining revealed the perforated tumor to be a metastatic malignant melanoma and the non-perforated tumor was found to be a gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST). The patient was discharged 7 d postoperatively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case in the literature of a simultaneous metastatic malignant melanoma and a GIST. Surgical intervention is warranted in patients with symptomatic GIT metastases to improve the quality of life or in those patients with surgical emergencies.