A case of hemangioendothelioma of the small intestine

Abstract

An 81-year-old female was admitted to hospital with anemia and abdominal discomfort, however, various pre-operative diagnostic workups for the gastro-intestinal tract revealed no significant change. At the time of surgery, a small intestinal tumor was discovered by means of endoscopy and seven centimeters of ileum was radically resected. The tumor was subsequently diagnosed histopathologically as hemangioendothelioma. The patient recovered quickly and now, 6 years later, has had no sign of tumor recurrence. The incidence of this tumor is reportedly less than 3 per cent of all tumors found in the small intestine and the prognosis of this tumor in the small intestine is poor. A five-year-survival rate can be referred to only 33.3 per cent of the reported cases.