Case Report
Copyright ©2006 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 14, 2006; 12(26): 4267-4269
Published online Jul 14, 2006. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v12.i26.4267
Treatment of solitary gastric carcinoid tumor by endoscopic polypectomy in a patient with pernicious anemia
Gurhan Kadikoylu, Irfan Yavasoglu, Vahit Yukselen, Esra Ozkara, Zahit Bolaman
Gurhan Kadikoylu, Zahit Bolaman, Internist, Hematologist, Adnan Menderes University Medical Faculty, Division of Hematology, Aydin, Turkey
Irfan Yavasoglu, Internist, Fellow in hematology, Adnan Menderes University Medical Faculty, Division of Hematology, Aydin, Turkey
Vahit Yukselen, Internist, Gastroenterologist, Adnan Menderes University Medical Faculty, Division of Gastroenterology, Aydin, Turkey
Esra Ozkara, Pathologist, Adnan Menderes University Medical Faculty, Division of Pathology, Aydin, Turkey
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Gurhan Kadikoylu, Adnan Menderes University Medical Faculty, Division of Hematology, 09100 Aydin, Turkey. gurhan@medscape.com
Telephone: +90-256-2120020 Fax: +90-256-2146495
Received: February 8, 2006
Revised: March 9, 2006
Accepted: March 13, 2006
Published online: July 14, 2006
Abstract

Type I gastric carcinoid tumors result from hypergastrinemia in 1%-7% of patients with pernicious anemia. We diagnosed pernicious anemia in a 48-year-old female patient with complaint of fatigue for three months. She had no gastrointestinal symptoms. Endoscopic examination ot the upper gastrointestinal tract revealed atrophic gastritis and a polypoid lesion in the corpus of 3-4 mm in size. Endoscopic polypectomy was performed. Histopathological examination of the specimen revealed positive chromogranin A and synaptophysin stainings compatible with the diagnosis of a carcinoid tumor. Serum gastrin level was increased, urinary 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid was within the normal range. There was no other symptom, sign, or laboratory finding of a carcinoid syndrome in the patient. No metastasis was found with indium-111 octreotide scan, computed tomographies of abdomen and thorax. Type I gastric carcinoid tumors are only rarely solitary and patients with tumors < 1 cm in size may benefit from endoscopic polypectomy.

Keywords: Solitary; Pernicious anemia; Gastric carcinoid tumor; Endoscopic polypectomy