Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma - a rare cause of laparotomy

Our plain-English summary of Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma - a rare cause of laparotomy, by T. Okniński, M. Romanowska, J. Pawlak, et al (Przegla̜d Gastroenterologiczny, 2017).

The study

• Authors: T. Okniński, M. Romanowska, J. Pawlak, A. Nawrocka-Kunecka
• Journal: Przegla̜d Gastroenterologiczny
• Published: 2017;12(2):152-155
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

In plain English

This letter to the editor was a case report of one patient treated at a hospital surgical ward in Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Poland. A 74-year-old man with ischaemic heart disease, diabetes and hypertension was admitted in June 2015. He had upper abdominal fullness and pain, vomiting after meals, weakness, and weight loss of about 15 kg in the previous month. X-ray and CT imaging showed an infiltrating mass of about 40 mm in the small bowel, with involvement of the omentum and slight fluid in the abdomen. On 24 June 2015 part of the small bowel was surgically removed, and many very small nodules were seen on the peritoneum. Tissue examination showed peritoneal mesothelioma in the small bowel and in the omentum (called the 'caul' in the article). No cancer was found in the lymph nodes, and the surgical margin was free of cancer. The authors reported that the patient had no history of asbestos exposure or any other known risk factor. He left hospital nine days after surgery and was referred for intraperitoneal chemotherapy. The article did not report his later outcome. The authors concluded that diagnosis of this disease is often delayed because the symptoms are nonspecific.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: case report (published as a letter to the editor)
• Who was studied: one 74-year-old man with ischaemic heart disease, diabetes and hypertension, treated at the surgical ward of The Western Hospital John Paul II, Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Poland, in June 2015
• Exposure: The authors reported that the patient had no history of asbestos exposure or of any other known risk factor.
• Main results:
  • The patient presented with upper abdominal fullness and pain, vomiting after meals, weakness, and weight loss of about 15 kg during the last month.
  • Imaging showed an infiltrating mass of about 40 mm in the proximal small bowel, with omental involvement and subtle signs of ascites.
  • CT also showed omental involvement and subtle signs of ascites.
  • The patient underwent partial resection of the small bowel.
  • During surgery, multiple very small peritoneal nodules were found.
  • Histopathology showed peritoneal mesothelioma in the small bowel and the caul (omentum). Tumour cells reacted positively with calretinin, a mesothelial cell marker.
  • No metastases were found in the lymph nodes.
  • The surgical margin was free of cancer.
  • The patient was released in good condition on the ninth day after surgery.
  • The patient was referred to the oncology outpatient clinic and qualified for postoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy; no later outcome was reported.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that diagnosis of peritoneal mesothelioma is often delayed because of nonspecific clinical symptoms, varied radiological images and similarity to other cancers. In their view, the mainstay of diagnosis is histopathological and immunohistochemical analysis of samples obtained during operation.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Peritoneal Mesothelioma, Laparotomy.

Related studies

• Benign Multicystic Peritoneal Mesothelioma (BMPM) as a rare cause of abdominal pain in a young male: case report and review of the literature — S. Gussago, P. Spina, et al. (2019)
• Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma as a rare cause of ascites: a case report — I. Ahmed, A. Koulaouzidis, et al. (2008)
• Benign multicystic peritoneal mesothelioma: a rare cause of intra-abdominal cystic disease — B. Campbell, D. Mehanna, et al. (2017)
• Sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis as a rare cause of intestinal obstruction after the treatment of peritoneal mesothelioma: a case report and review of the literature — Z. Ni, Q. Chen, et al. (2021)
• Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma: A Rare Cause of Ascites — A.M. Ibrahim, M. Al-Akchar, et al. (2018)
• Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma as a Rare Cause of Dyspeptic Complaints and Ascites: A Diagnostic Challenge — S. Marques de Sousa, F. Pereira, et al. (2020)

Browse return to medical research.