Luo YK, Yu HY, Bao YP, Mao JQ, Chen YB. Double contrast-enhanced ultrasonography in an exophytic gastric glomus tumor with unremarkable gastroscopy: A case report. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2026; 18(10): 123703 [DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.123703]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Ya-Bo Chen, MD, Department of Ultrasound in Medicine, Ningbo No. 6 Hospital, No. 1059 Zhongshan East Road, Yinzhou District, Ningbo 315000, Zhejiang Province, China. chenyabo2024@163.com
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
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case-report
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Luo YK, Yu HY, Bao YP, Mao JQ, Chen YB. Double contrast-enhanced ultrasonography in an exophytic gastric glomus tumor with unremarkable gastroscopy: A case report. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2026; 18(10): 123703 [DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.123703]
Yun-Kai Luo, You-Pu Bao, Department of Ultrasound in Medicine, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, and International School of Medicine, International Institutes of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Yiwu 322000, Zhejiang Province, China
Hua-Yuan Yu, Department of Ultrasound, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of School of Medicine, and International School of Medicine, International Institutes of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Yiwu 322000, Zhejiang Province, China
Jian-Qiang Mao, Department of Uitrasound Medicine, Huzhou Nanxun People’s Hospital, Huzhou 313000, Zhejiang Province, China
Ya-Bo Chen, Department of Ultrasound in Medicine, Ningbo No. 6 Hospital, Ningbo 315000, Zhejiang Province, China
Co-first authors: Yun-Kai Luo and Hua-Yuan Yu.
Co-corresponding authors: Jian-Qiang Mao and Ya-Bo Chen.
Author contributions: Luo YK, Yu HY, Bao YP, Mao JQ contributed to manuscript writing and editing, and data collection; Chen YB contributed to conceptualization and supervision; Luo YK and Yu HY have made crucial and indispensable contributions towards the completion of the project and thus qualified as the co-first authors of the paper; Mao JQ and Chen YB played important and indispensable roles in the manuscript preparation as the co-corresponding authors; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
AI contribution statement: Portions of this manuscript were edited using AI tools solely for language refinement. The authors carefully reviewed and verified all AI-assisted outputs and take full responsibility for the scientific content of the manuscript.
Informed consent statement: Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this case report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest related to this manuscript.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Corresponding author: Ya-Bo Chen, MD, Department of Ultrasound in Medicine, Ningbo No. 6 Hospital, No. 1059 Zhongshan East Road, Yinzhou District, Ningbo 315000, Zhejiang Province, China. chenyabo2024@163.com
Received: May 27, 2026 Revised: June 26, 2026 Accepted: July 20, 2026 Published online: October 15, 2026 Processing time: 116 Days and 9.8 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Gastric glomus tumors (GGT) are rare mesenchymal tumors which are difficult to diagnose accurately before surgery because their clinical, endoscopic, and imaging findings are not specific. Double contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (DCEUS) may provide useful information on gastric wall structure, tumor growth pattern, and vascular enhancement.
CASE SUMMARY
A 55-year-old woman presented with paroxysmal upper abdominal pain for 1 month. Laboratory tests showed mild anemia and several biochemical abnormalities. Routine gastroscopy revealed no remarkable findings. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography demonstrated a well-defined intramural nodule in the gastric antrum with progressive enhancement, and a neuroendocrine tumor was considered. DCEUS showed preserved gastric wall stratification and a hypoechoic ovoid lesion on the greater curvature of the gastric antrum. The lesion protruded slightly outward and showed a hypervascular enhancement pattern on DCEUS. An exophytic gastrointestinal stromal tumor was suspected preoperatively. The patient underwent laparoscopic resection. Histopathology and immunohistochemistry confirmed a GGT. She recovered uneventfully and remained recurrence-free during 2 years of follow-up.
CONCLUSION
DCEUS may be a useful complementary modality for the preoperative evaluation of small hypervascular exophytic gastric wall lesions.
Core Tip: Gastric glomus tumor is a rare gastric mesenchymal tumor and is frequently misclassified before surgery because its symptoms and imaging appearances may overlap with those of gastrointestinal stromal tumors and neuroendocrine tumors. This case shows that double contrast-enhanced ultrasonography can depict the gastric wall structure, exophytic growth pattern, and dynamic vascular enhancement of a small hypervascular antral lesion, providing useful complementary information when gastroscopy is unremarkable.
