Glomus tumor of the stomach: a case report

Glomus tumors are relatively uncommon benign neoplasms, most common in the skin and subcutaneous tissue, but can also occur in the viscera, most often in the stomach. Preoperative diagnosis, when the tumor occurs in the stomach, seems difficult but is important, since glomus tumors of the stomach are essentially benign and amenable to conservative excision, contrary to aggressive gastric neoplasms. We describe the case of a 75-year-old man presented to the emergency department with gastrointestinal bleeding and epigastric pain. Gastroscopy revealed a submucosal mass in the antrum of the stomach in correspondence to the lesser curvature. Biopsies taken from the lesion showed morphological and immunohistochemical [positivity for alphasmooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) and vimentin, negativity for CD34, CD117, chromogranin, synaptophysin, desmin and S-100 protein] characteristics attributable to glomus tumor. The patient underwent a laparotomic antrotomy incision. Histological examination of the tumor confirmed the diagnosis of gastric glomus tumor.