[A Case of a Laparoscopically Resected Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor of the Stomach]

Abstract

During treatment for sigmoid colon diverticulitis, a 72-year-old man underwent abdominal computed tomography, which revealed a gastric tumor that was approximately 40mm in diameter. He then underwent a detailed examination after the remission of diverticulitis. The gastric mucosa was found to be unremarkable on gastrointestinal endoscopy. On ultrasonic endoscopy, however, a hypoechoic mass of approximately 40mm in diameter was detected in the fourth layer of the gastric fornix and was believed to be a gastric submucosal tumor(SMT). The tumor was laparoscopically resected, and histological analysis of the tumor revealed a high-risk gastrointestinal stromal tumor(GIST, modified-Fletcher classification). In many cases, when subgastric SMTs are approximately 2-5 cm in diameter and are without obvious malignant findings on endoscopic or computed tomographic examinations, they are followed-up. However, some recent case reports describing treatments for high- or medium-risk groups of patients with small GISTs have been published. When a small submucosal gastric tumor is suspected to be GIST, we believe that laparoscopic surgery is a minimally invasive and effective method for the diagnosis and treatment of the tumor.