Gastric submucosal tumors: Lessons learned from 10-year follow-up

Abstract

e15631 Background: Gastric Submucosal tumors (SMTs) were incidentally discovered esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD). However, they have not been studied in detail of epidemiology. Furthermore, no treatment strategy for SMTs has been established with few studies looking into long-term outcomes. The aim of this study is to clarify the clinical features and long-term outcomes of gastric SMT at a single institute for 10-year period. Methods: We performed a total of 5307 EGDs and detected 188 gastric SMTs during 1998. All clinical data including incidence, size and location in stomach were analyzed for the medical records. A retrospective review was conducted for 10-year period for 109 patients and 79 patients were excluded because of simultaneous surgery (3), disappear in follow- up EGD (27), lost of follow-up (49). Results: Gastric SMTs were detected 188 (81 males, 107 females) of 5307 patients (3.5%). Majority size of SMTs was less than 1cm (64%) and SMTs<2cm were 91%. 56% of SMTs located middle one third of stomach, and half (22%) of the remaining SMTs were detected at upper and lower one third, respectively. In 10-year follow-up, 83 of 109 patients were alive at December 2008. One patient was dead of SMT and the remaining 25 patients were dead of other disease till December 2008. Enlargement of SMT was observed in 2 of 109 SMTs (1.8%). Both of them underwent surgical resection and diagnosed as gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). One patient was annually monitored by endoscopy, from 0.6cm to 1.5cm during 4 years, without recurrence for 6 years after surgical intervention. Another didn't undergo regular endoscopy, from 1.8cm to 8cm during 2 years, with recurrence, and consequently died of SMT. Conclusions: The incidence of SMTs is 3.5%, majority (91%) is small (<2cm), and frequent location is middle one third of stomach. Most of SMTs might be managed conservatively, but regular endoscopy is required. No significant financial relationships to disclose.