A man who suffered from a severe stomach ache for months found out the cause of his pain was a ‘giant tumor’ growing in his abdomen.
The unnamed patient, who is the subject of a paper in the American Journal of Case Reports, was rushed to the emergency room as his symptoms worsened.
At that point, the clinicians said he ‘appeared weak’ with an unhealthy pale complexion and cold extremities.
After his condition stabilized, they performed a CT scan of his body, which showed he had a mass in the first part of his small intestine.
Surgery to remove the mass revealed it was a very rare type of tumor called a Brunneroma, and it was nearly the size of a peach.
Photos published in the journal show the mass after it was removed from the man’s intestine, with it measuring 7.5cm – 3in – wide.
Because of its large size, the study authors categorized it as ‘giant’.
Further tests confirmed it was not cancerous.
A man who suffered from severe stomach ache for months found out that the cause of his pain was in fact a peach-sized tumor
Photos published in the journal show the mass after it was removed from the man’s intestine, with it measuring 7.5cm wide
Following its removal, the patient was discharged from the hospital 11 days later.
A follow-up conducted three months later showed ‘no disease recurrence or other pathological findings’.
The study authors note ‘even though the small intestine accounts for approximately two thirds of the entire length of the bowel, tumors arising from it are rare.’
They add that since the inclusion of Brunneromas in medical literature in the early 1800s, only 200 case reports on the rumors have been published reported.
Most people with Bunneromas don’t have symptoms, but when they do, they are usually nonspecific, such as abdominal pain, nausea and bloating.
The most serious symptom is gastrointestinal bleeding, with blood loss from the digestive system triggering iron deficiency anemia.
The patient highlighted in the study had developed chronic anemia due to bleeding, which had been present for around two months.
Chronic anemia is a condition where the body does not have enough red blood cells to carry oxygen effectively throughout the body.
This presents a variety of symptoms including fatigue, a pale complexion, feeling sweaty for no reason, headaches, chest pain, cold feet and hands and nausea.
Removal of the tumor helped to treat the man’s anemia.
A scan showing the man’s tumor highlighted by a white arrow
In their case study, the man’s tumor had moved further into his small intestine
As most Brunneromas are asymptomatic, they are often found accidentally during other internal investigations or when scans are conducted.
In terms of their location, the study authors note they are usually found in the first section of the small intestine.
In their case study, the man’s tumor had moved further into his small intestine.
Smaller Brunneromas can be removed via an endoscopy, which is a minimally invasive procedure that passes a long, flexible tube with a camera and tools through the mouth or anus to retrieve the mass.
For larger tumors, such as the one the 39-year-old patient had, they say surgery is the best option.
After Brunneromas are removed, recurrence is rare.
Researchers are striving to understand more about the rare masses to enable prompter treatment.
They are said to account for 5 to 10 percent of all small bowel tumors, with patients usually aged in their 50s or 60s.
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