Gastric MALT lymphoma in the absence of Helicobacter pylori infection presenting as an upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage

Abstract

Gastric MALT lymphoma is almost exclusively a sequelae of Helicobacter pylori infection and rarely presents with profuse bleeding. Gastric mucosa is not normally thought to contain lymphoid tissue, yet in the presence of H pylori reactive lymphoid follicles form which are possibly throught to predispose the patient to developing lymphoma. GI bleeding from these tumors is common during treatment as a consequence of tumor regression or necrosis. We present the case of a MALT Lymphoma in a 59 year-old woman manifesting as a brisk upper GI bleed without serologic or microbiologic evidence of an H pylori infection.