[Leiomyosarcomas of the stomach: a report of 3 clinical cases and a review of the literature].

Three consecutive malignant smooth-muscle gastric tumor cases are reported. Digestive endoscopy allowed a correct diagnosis in 2 out of 3 cases, when neoplasias were ulcerated, enabling a deep endoscopic biopsy. On the contrary, in the third case the endoscopic diagnosis was a benign leiomyoma and the endoscopic biopsies were completely negative. Even CT scan was not able to reveal the malignant nature of the disease in this patient. Surgical procedures performed were: polar superior gastric resection, Billroth I partial gastric resection and extended total gastrectomy. In one patient, regional lymph nodes were positive for metastases. The patient who died at 6 months from surgery had a large (approximately 12 cm) neoplasia of the gastric fundus.