Gastric lymphoma presenting as phlegmonous gastritis

Abstract

Phlegmonous gastritis is an uncommon local or diffuse bacterial infection of the stomach wall. It is an extremely rare disease with a fulminating course and a high mortality rate. A majority of cases are diagnosed only postmortem, and early diagnosis is crucial for survival. This used to be common in the preantibiotic era; a resurgence of cases has occurred of late due to the spread of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. There are varying local and systemic associations like gastric ulcer, gastric carcinoma, post-therapeutic endoscopy, postsurgery, human immunodeficiency virus infection, malnutrition, Kaposi's sarcoma, myeloma, leukemia, Sjogren's syndrome, and glucocorticoid use. We report a case of phlegmonous gastritis in a 70-year-old lady associated with gastric lymphoma. She succumbed to death on the fifth day of hospitalization despite broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy. She could not be operated upon due to the onset of multiorgan dysfunction syndrome and multiple comorbidities. To our knowledge, gastric lymphoma presenting as phlegmonous gastritis has not been reported in published English literature.