[A case report of scirrhous gastric carcinoma diagnosed by staging laparoscopy]

The case is a sixty-something man with a complication of epigastric abdominal pain. X-ray and endoscopic examination of upper gastrointestinal tract showed a rigidity of the gastric wall and the presence of giant folds on gastric body and fornix. Scirrhous type of gastric cancer was suspected and gastric forceps biopsy was performed at many points under the retreated endoscopic examinations. However, the histologic findings revealed no malignant features. We performed staging laparoscopy, and by peritoneal washing cytology and biopsy of a nodule of abdominal wall, he was diagnosed with advanced gastric carcinoma with peritoneal dissemination. In conclusion, staging laparoscopy is one of the useful methods for diagnosis and determination of the management of scirrhous type gastric carcinoma.