The importance of follow-up examinations in patients with carcinoid tumor

Carcinoid tumors are rare forms of gastrointestinal tumors, although lately they have been found with increasing frequency. We report here the combined diagnosis of an intestinal metastasized carcinoid tumor. A 67-year-old patient was followed up during a nine-year period. In 1990 the patient was diagnosed with carcinoid tumor of intestinal origin with multiple liver metastases. Initial treatment consisted of partial resection of the intestine and resection of the liver. Since multiple liver metastases were found, chemoembolization was also performed. After this therapy the patient was free of complaints until 1996. That year the patient reported upper abdominal pain with occasional diarrhea. Given his past medical history and multiple hepatic metastases proven by three-dimensional ultrasonography, combined octreotide and interferon therapy was started following octreoscan scintigraphy. During a three-year period the patient was without complaints and the tumor marker value decreased to almost normal. In 1998 the patient at a regular follow-up visit complained about colic abdominal pain around the umbilical region. Abdominal ultrasonography showed a local wall thickening in the intestinal region. The computed tomography and selective enterography were positive as well. The surgical treatment and histology demonstrated intestinal recurrence of the tumor in the ileal region. After the operation we started a long-acting sandostatin and interferon treatment. We conclude that an ultrasound with a high index of clinical suspicion is a useful test for the diagnosis of carcinoid tumor in detection and in follow-up examinations.