[Carcinoid syndrome. Recurrent upper abdominal pain, diarrhea and flush in a 15-year-old girl]

A carcinoid syndrome is typically diagnosed in elderly patients, median age at diagnosis was 60 years in two large series. We describe a patient with the carcinoid syndrome at the young age of 15 years.

The 15-year-old patient's history and findings on physical examination, clinical chemistry, abdominal ultrasound and liver biopsy were typical for a carcinoid with hepatic metastases. The patient's age, however, was very unusual. Because of her youth, we discussed a potentially curative treatment with resection of the primary tumor in the upper jejunum followed by liver transplantation at a second operation. This concept had to be abandoned, when the first operation revealed a tumor in the mesenterium, close to the primary, 5 cm in diameter and around the superior mesenteric artery. This tumor could not be resected. Liver transplantation therefore did not offer this young patient a chance for cure.