Preoperative diagnosis of jejunal adenocarcinoma--a case report

We report herein the case of a preoperatively diagnosed small bowel adenocarcinoma. A 57-year-old man was hospitalized twice for a month in the Gastroenterology Clinic due to complaints lasting a year before hospitalization and consisting of heaviness and spastic pain in the left upper abdomen. None of the numerous methods used in this case (fibrogastroduodenoscopy, ileocolonoscopy, barium series and CT) could reveal a tumor. Ultrasound (US) examination showed a polycyclic formation in the left hypochondrium with enlarged regional lymph nodes. An US-guided fine (20 gauge) needle aspiration (FNA) cytology of the mass was performed and showed moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma of intestinal origin. Thanks to Doppler US guidance during FNA a massive bleeding from an identified arterial vessel with high systolic speed was avoided. On surgical exploration a jejunal tumor of high consistency was found, located 15 cm distantly from the Treitz ligament, infiltrating up to 2/3 of the bowel circumference and partly obstructing its lumen. The histological evaluation of the resected material showed highly to moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma with 5 regional lymph node metastases. The combination of US with Doppler and FNA established preoperatively the malignant small bowel disease.