[Endoscopic treatment of gastric carcinoid. Report of a clinical case]

We report on a case of a gastric carcinoid of the sporadic type successfully treated by endoscopic electroresection. From January 1998 to October 2002, 1523 gastroscopies were performed in the Palermo University General Emergency Surgery and Organ Transplant Unit. In a 59-year-old man with a history of dyspepsia, a sessile polypoid gastric lesion was observed in the gastric corpus. Laboratory data were normal. The lesion was successfully treated by electroresection. Histological evaluation revealed an 8-mm-diameter well-differentiated neuroendocrine polypoid tumour infiltrating the muscularis mucosa. According to Rindi et al.'s classification, the polyp was a carcinoid of the sporadic type. A two-year follow-up consisting in gastroscopy every 6 months and evaluation of tumour markers and CT scans once a year has so far shown no recurrence. Surgical treatment is the therapy of choice for gastric carcinoids, but endoscopic resection may be a successful alternative in cases of carcinoids measuring less than 1 cm and presenting multricentric growth. Moreover, endoscopy can also be used in patents at high surgical risk.