2021 Volume 74 Issue 2 Pages 55-60
An 86-year-old woman presented with abdominal pain. Her blood tests revealed elevated inflammatory markers. An abdominal CT examination demonstrated an enlarged appendix with inflamed surrounding adipose tissue. An appendectomy was laparoscopically performed. Upon resection, the enlarged appendix was found to be 65 × 24 mm in size, with tumor cells of high N:C ratio. In immunohistochemical staining, the resected tissue was positive for neuroendocrine markers, including chromogranin A, synaptophysin, and CD56, and a definitive diagnosis of neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) was obtained. Postoperative evaluation revealed multiple liver metastases; however, a policy of no chemotherapy was adopted, and the patient died approximately 3 months later. Our literature search identified only 11 reported cases of NEC of the appendix, including the present case. There are no established treatment guidelines, thereby warranting the need to compile such cases for improved diagnosis and treatment of this condition. Here, we report a case of NEC of the appendix that was preoperatively diagnosed as acute appendicitis and was pathologically diagnosed following surgical resection. Furthermore, we review the literature for this condition.
