Plexiform Fibromyxoma: A Rare Gastric Tumor

Document Type

Case Report

Department

Internal Medicine (East Africa)

Abstract

Plexiform fibromyxoma is a rare and distinctive benign mesenchymal neoplasm that occurs in the gastric antrum. This tumor has a potential for misdiagnosis as gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST). It causes mucosa and vascular ulcerations without advancement of the tumor. Cytological bland spindle cells within a variably myxoid stroma characterize the histology of the tumor. We report the case of a 41-year-old African Tanzanian lady who presented with melena and recurrent anemia. Endoscopy and imaging studies revealed antral mass with initial suspicion of a GIST. However, immunohistochemically it turned to be a plexiform fibromyxoma. Follow-up evaluation 12 months after surgery revealed no evidence of recurrence or metastasis. This is a very uncommon tumor, which, to our knowledge, has been reported only once in Africa. The clinicians need to be aware of this rare occurrence to avoid misdiagnosis as GIST tumor.

Comments

This work was published before the author joined Aga Khan University.

Publication (Name of Journal)

Case Reports in Gastrointestinal Medicine

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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