Color Doppler sonography in gastric leiomyosarcoma

✍ Scribed by Paoletta Mirk; Piero Gimondo

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 594 KB
• Volume: 2
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0929-8266
• DOI: 10.1016/0929-8266(94)00080-8

✦ Synopsis

Gastric leiomyosarcoma is an unusual neoplasm which is not always correctly recognized preoperatively. Endoscopy and radiological examination (double contrast upper gastro-intestinal tract examination, US, CT) can demonstrate typical features of extramucosal disease but are not always diagnostic since they cannot differentiate between a benign or malignant tumor, unless large necrotic lesions or direct signs of malignancy (infiltration of nearby structures, metastatic involvement) are demonstrated. We present a case of gastric leiomyosarcoma, atypical for age of onset and lymph node involvement and apparently benign according to a variety of diagnostic methods, but showing easily detectable arterial flow on Doppler evaluation. The effectiveness of the different diagnostic techniques performed in this case is discussed: Doppler may form a useful adjunct, vascularity suggesting the malignant nature of a mass.