We report a case of an 84-year-old woman with a history of resected cutaneous melanoma who presented with asthenia, weight loss, and severe anemia. An esophagogastroduodenoscopy showed five black-pigmented submucosal tumors with large ulcerations in the antrum of the stomach and in the duodenum, suspected metastases from melanoma. Histopathological examination indicated the presence of melanin-containing tumor cells and confirmed an ulcerated pigmented melanoma. To examine the entire gastrointestinal tract, capsule endoscopy was performed and it showed a simultaneous massive involvement of the jejunum and ileum, with more than 40 lesions. This case highlights the importance of a complete endoscopic gastrointestinal examination in patients with melanoma metastatic to the bowel and suggests that capsule endoscopy is an easy, noninvasive, and effective diagnostic procedure to investigate small-bowel involvement.

Malignant melanoma rather than malignant cutaneous melanoma?

PALLIO, Socrate;GIACOBBE, Giuseppa;CONSOLO, Pierluigi
2013-01-01

Abstract

We report a case of an 84-year-old woman with a history of resected cutaneous melanoma who presented with asthenia, weight loss, and severe anemia. An esophagogastroduodenoscopy showed five black-pigmented submucosal tumors with large ulcerations in the antrum of the stomach and in the duodenum, suspected metastases from melanoma. Histopathological examination indicated the presence of melanin-containing tumor cells and confirmed an ulcerated pigmented melanoma. To examine the entire gastrointestinal tract, capsule endoscopy was performed and it showed a simultaneous massive involvement of the jejunum and ileum, with more than 40 lesions. This case highlights the importance of a complete endoscopic gastrointestinal examination in patients with melanoma metastatic to the bowel and suggests that capsule endoscopy is an easy, noninvasive, and effective diagnostic procedure to investigate small-bowel involvement.
2013
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11570/2576770
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