Perineurioma of the stomach. A rare spindle cell neoplasm that should be distinguished from gastrointestinal stromal tumor.

We report on the first case of benign perineurially differentiated peripheral nerve sheath tumor (perineurioma) presenting as a bleeding gastric mass in a 30-year-old, previously healthy woman with no signs or stigmata of von Recklinghausen's disease or other primary tumor at time of presentation. Gastric resection specimen revealed an ulcerated moderately cellular mesenchymal tumor consisting of elongated wavy spindle cells arranged in a fascicular and sheet-like pattern with focal whorling and occasional alternation of dark staining cellular and light staining hypocellular areas. Tumor cells were strongly immunoreactive for epithelial membrane antigen, CD56 (N-CAM), and vimentin, but were negative for S-100-protein and other lineage-specific epithelial, mesenchymal, hematolymphoid, and reticulo-histiocytic markers. CD117 revealed numerous positive staining mast cells, but the lesional cells were not reacting. We presume that the combined histological and immunohistochemical profiles of this unusual gastric neoplasm are consistent with a diagnosis of perineurioma with a probably benign biological behavior. To our knowledge, this is the first report of gastric perineurioma, an extremely rare mesenchymal lesion that should be considered among the differential diagnoses of gastrointestinal stromal tumor, especially the so-called KIT-negative GIST. Gastrointestinal perineuriomas might be under-recognized, as our case was initially diagnosed as a benign GIST.