2002 Volume 35 Issue 4 Pages 423-426
A 54-year-old man seen at another hospital for fecal occult blood was found by colonoscopy to have multiple colon polyps and a submucosal tumor 8 mm in diameter in the terminal ileum. A histological diagnosis of carcinoid was made from a biopsy specimen from the ileal lesion. After admission to our institution, we conducted ileocecal resection. Macroscopic findings for the resected specimen showed a submucosal tumor 8×7 mm in diameter in the terminal ileum. Histological findings showed the carcinoid tumor had deeply invaded the submucosal layer and resulted in a regional lymph node metastasis. Carcinoid tumors of the ileum are rare, with our case having the munimum diameter for lymph node metastasis in Japan. In the West, jejunoileal carcinoid tumors are common and about 20% less than 10mm in diameter involve regional lymph node metastasis. Patients with small ileal carcinoid tumors should thus be suitably treated to allow for the possibility of lymph node metastasis.
