Duodenal Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor: A Rare Disease in a Young Adult Female Patient Presenting with Life-Threatening Hemorrhage

Abstract

Duodenal gastrointestinal stromal tumors (dGISTs) may be a source of life-threatening hemorrhage that leads to emergency surgical care, precluding tumor staging and the planning of an elective treatment. In this study, we report a case of potentially lethal bleeding dGIST in a young woman successfully treated by an organ-preserving elective surgery after endoscopic and angiographic hemostasis. A 26-year-old female patient was admitted to the Emergency Unit of our hospital with the complaints of hematemesis and melena in the previous 12 h. An upper endoscopy showed a 4-cm submucosal lesion, between the 2nd and 3rd part of the duodenum, in the lateral wall, with massive bleeding arising from central ulceration. Hemostasis was initially achieved endoscopically and then optimized by transarterial embolization. After a contrast-enhanced CT, the patient underwent planning elective surgery. Intraoperatively, a 3-cm lesion was confirmed and resected by excision of the full-thickness duodenum with adequate free margins. Immunohistochemical analysis of the specimen revealed to be a dGIST, with a low mitotic count (<5 mitosis/50 high power field), and tumor necrosis present in <50% of the lesion. The patient had an uneventful course.