Are gastrointestinal stromaltumours really asymptomatic?

Abstract

AimGastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs) detected incidentally during abdominal surgical interventions or imaging may cause serious morbidity and mortality. We retrospectively investigated the histopathological diagnoses of GISTs made in our clinic and possible symptoms caused by the tumours prior to diagnosis.Methods We retrospectively reviewed the files of patients who underwent surgery in the general surgery clinic of Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University between April 2012 and January 2017 and who were histopathologically diagnosed with GISTs; all were included in the study. Demographic data including age and sex, and data on preoperative complaints at the time of admission, tumour location, metastasis, local recurrence, and death were obtained.Results The mean male and female patient ages were 57.1 ± 15.2 and 51.3 ± 15.3 years, respectively. Abdominal pain was the most common symptom (46.2%); other symptoms included weight loss, a palpable abdominal mass, constipation, incontinence, and lower gastrointestinal tract bleeding. The ileum was the most frequently involved region of the gastrointestinal tract (30.8%); other affected areas included the jejunum, lower intestinal tract, omentum, rectum, peritoneum, stomach, and pancreas. The CD117 positivity rate was 92.3%, the CD34 positivity rate was 50%, the actin positivity rate was 69.2%, and the desmin positivity rate was 15.4%.Conclusion GISTs are generally found incidentally, but they are accompanied by some symptoms in most of patients. However, as the symptoms are shared by many diseases, they are often overlooked by doctors and patients; these tumours are not diagnosed in a timely manner.

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