Abstract
The number of reported cases of primary small intestinal carcinoma has recently been increasing. But its frequency is still low, its early discovery and diagnosis is difficult. A case of jejunal carcinoma preoperatively diagnosed by small intestinal fiberscopy is reported in the light of related literature.
The patient, a 34-year-old woman with the chief complaint of vomiting, was diagnosed as having jejunal carcinoma by double contrast radiography and fiberscopy of the small intestine, and she underwent partial jejunectomy and lymph-node excision. The lesion was located in the jejunum on the anal side 20cm distant from Treitz's ligament. Histopathological findings revealed that the lesion was a well-differentiated adenocarcinoma.
Preoperative diagnosis of primary small intestinal carcinoma is difficult as it occurs at low frequency, 0.1-0.3% of all carcinomas of the digestive tract and it sometimes has no symptom. Early discovery and diagnosis of primary small intestinal carcinoma is so important also from the prognostic aspect that it is necessary to perform double contrast radiology and fiberscopy of the small intestine whenever it is suspected. Its basic treatment is a surgical procedure and it has been reported that the five-year survival rate is 20%.
