Glomus tumor of the stomach

Case report

Abstract

Background: A glomus tumor is a benign neoplasm arising from a neuromyoarterial body. It is usually found in the peripheral region of the extremities and is rarely found in the stomach. We report a rare case of a glomus tumor in the stomach.Case: A 60-year-old woman had a submucosal tumor of the stomach which was diagnosed as leiomyoma clinically. During follow-up, enlargement of the tumor was noted. Therefore endoscopic partial gastrectomy was performed. The tumor was an encapsulated solid lesion with a diameter of 15×10×5 mm. In cytology, small round to oval tumor cells were detected as clusters of small nests with strong cohesiveness and there were no isolated cells. The tumor was also characterized by the presence of blood vessels which were closely associated with tumor cells.Conclusions: Among the submucosal tumors of the stomach, it is important to distinguish glomus tumor from carcinoid. We conclude that it is useful to perform cytological examination in addition to histological examination because the differential diagnosis of these tumors depends on the presence or absence of cohesiveness in cytology.