Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Annals of The Royal College of Surgeons of England logoLink to Annals of The Royal College of Surgeons of England
. 1990 Sep;72(5):316–320.

Smooth muscle tumours of the alimentary tract.

T Diamond 1, M H Danton 1, T G Parks 1
PMCID: PMC2499202  PMID: 2221768

Abstract

Neoplasms arising from smooth muscle of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract are uncommon, comprising only 1% of gastrointestinal tumours. A total of 51 cases of smooth muscle tumour of the GI tract were analysed; 44 leiomyomas and 7 leiomyosarcomas. Lesions occurred in all areas from the oesophagus to the rectum, the stomach being the commonest site. Thirty-six patients had clinical features referable to the tumour. The tumour was detected during investigation or management of an unrelated disease process in 15 patients. The clinical presentation varied depending on tumour location, but abdominal pain and GI bleeding were the commonest presenting symptoms. The lesion was demonstrated preoperatively, mainly by endoscopy and barium studies, in 27 patients. Surgical excision was the treatment of choice, where possible. There was no recurrence in the leiomyoma group but four patients died in the leiomyosarcoma group. Although rare, smooth muscle tumours should be considered in situations where clinical presentation and investigations are not suggestive of any common GI disorder. The preoperative assessment and diagnosis is difficult because of the variability in clinical features and their inaccessibility to routine GI investigation. It is recommended that, where possible, the lesion, whether symptomatic or discovered incidentally, should be excised completely to achieve a cure and prevent future complications.

Full text

PDF
316

Images in this article

319Figure 3
on p.319
319Figure 4
on p.319

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Abrescia F., Montresor E., Saggin P., Tenchini P., Sandrini A., Frigo F., Puchetti V. Leiomyomata of the oesophagus: report of four surgically-treated cases. Eur J Surg Oncol. 1985 Dec;11(4):333–336. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Akwari O. E., Dozois R. R., Weiland L. H., Beahrs O. H. Leiomyosarcoma of the small and large bowel. Cancer. 1978 Sep;42(3):1375–1384. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(197809)42:3<1375::aid-cncr2820420348>3.0.co;2-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Appleman H. D., Helwig E. B. Gastric epithelioid leiomyoma and leiomyosarcoma (leiomyoblastoma). Cancer. 1976 Aug;38(2):708–728. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(197608)38:2<708::aid-cncr2820380215>3.0.co;2-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cathcart P. M., Cathcart R. S., Yarbrough D. R., 3rd Tumors of gastric smooth muscle. South Med J. 1980 Jan;73(1):18–20. doi: 10.1097/00007611-198001000-00009. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Deverall P. B. Smooth-muscle tumours of the oesophagus. Br J Surg. 1968 Jun;55(6):457–461. doi: 10.1002/bjs.1800550613. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Evans H. L. Smooth muscle tumors of the gastrointestinal tract. A study of 56 cases followed for a minimum of 10 years. Cancer. 1985 Nov 1;56(9):2242–2250. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19851101)56:9<2242::aid-cncr2820560918>3.0.co;2-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Fagin R. R., Levinson J. D., Prolla J. C., Kobayashi S., Singer H. C. Myogenic tumors of the stomach (gastroscopic and pathologic observations). Gastrointest Endosc. 1970 Aug;17(1):30–33. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Iizuka T., Kato H., Watanabe H., Itabashi M., Hirota T. Superficial carcinoma of the esophagus coexisting with esophageal leiomyoma: a case report and review of the Japanese literature. Jpn J Clin Oncol. 1984 Mar;14(1):115–122. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Itzchak Y., Adar R., Mozes M., Deutsch V. Angiographic diagnosis of leiomyomatous small bowel tumors. Angiologica. 1973;10(5-6):310–317. doi: 10.1159/000157988. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Laursen E., Lyng K. M. Leiomyomas of the small intestine: a rare cause of abdominal emergency. Case report. Acta Chir Scand. 1987;153(5-6):391–393. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Megibow A. J., Balthazar E. J., Hulnick D. H., Naidich D. P., Bosniak M. A. CT evaluation of gastrointestinal leiomyomas and leiomyosarcomas. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 1985 Apr;144(4):727–731. doi: 10.2214/ajr.144.4.727. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. SKANDALAKIS J. E., GRAY S. W., SHEPARD D. SMOOTH MUSCLE TUMORS OF THE SMALL INTESTINE. Am J Gastroenterol. 1964 Aug;42:172–190. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. STARR G. F., DOCKERTY M. B. Leiomyomas and leiomyosarcomas of the small intestine. Cancer. 1955 Jan-Feb;8(1):101–111. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(1955)8:1<101::aid-cncr2820080114>3.0.co;2-o. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Shiu M. H., Farr G. H., Papachristou D. N., Hajdu S. I. Myosarcomas of the stomach: natural history, prognostic factors and management. Cancer. 1982 Jan 1;49(1):177–187. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19820101)49:1<177::aid-cncr2820490136>3.0.co;2-k. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Stothert J. C., Jr, Riaz A., Joyce P. F., Kaminski D. L. Preoperative angiographic diagnosis of small bowel leiomyomas. Arch Surg. 1978 May;113(5):643–645. doi: 10.1001/archsurg.1978.01370170105022. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Annals of The Royal College of Surgeons of England are provided here courtesy of The Royal College of Surgeons of England

RESOURCES