Umar Zaryab, Ilyas Usman, Otusile Ibironke, Landry Ian
Internal Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Queens Hospital Center, New York City, USA.
Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City Health and Hospitals/Queens, New York City, USA.
Cureus. 2022 Apr 1;14(4):e23720. doi: 10.7759/cureus.23720. eCollection 2022 Apr.
Neuroendocrine tumors are tumors that arise from the enterochromaffin cells in the neuroendocrine tissue found throughout the body, particularly the digestive tract, pancreas, and thymus. Neuroendocrine tumors of the esophagus are extremely rare and highly aggressive in nature. We present the case of a 55-year-old Hispanic male who initially presented to the emergency department with right-sided abdominal pain. Imaging revealed innumerable lesions occupying half of the liver parenchyma. Subsequent endoscopy with biopsy of the esophageal and liver lesions along with immunohistochemistry staining was suggestive of a large cell neuroendocrine tumor. He later presented with generalized weakness and right-sided abdominal pain with worsening hepatic and renal function. Over the course of the patient's stay in the hospital, his mental status progressively deteriorated. Given the deranged hepatic and renal function, chemotherapy could not be initiated. The patient's family decided against hemodialysis considering his poor prognosis and the patient expired on day 15 of admission. The case report highlights the aggressiveness of one of the rare esophageal malignancies. It is crucial to establish diagnosis at the earlier stages of the disease with prompt treatment in order to avoid serious complications such as hepatorenal syndrome, which resulted in rapid deterioration of our patient's clinical status. More research is necessary in order to establish guidelines to treat neuroendocrine tumors of the esophagus.
神经内分泌肿瘤是起源于全身神经内分泌组织中的肠嗜铬细胞的肿瘤,尤其是消化道、胰腺和胸腺。食管神经内分泌肿瘤极为罕见,且本质上具有高度侵袭性。我们报告一例55岁西班牙裔男性病例,该患者最初因右侧腹痛就诊于急诊科。影像学检查显示无数病变占据了肝实质的一半。随后进行的食管和肝脏病变内镜检查及活检,以及免疫组化染色提示为大细胞神经内分泌肿瘤。他后来出现全身无力和右侧腹痛,肝肾功能恶化。在患者住院期间,其精神状态逐渐恶化。鉴于肝肾功能紊乱,无法开始化疗。考虑到患者预后较差,其家属决定不进行血液透析,患者于入院第15天死亡。该病例报告突出了一种罕见的食管恶性肿瘤的侵袭性。在疾病早期建立诊断并及时治疗至关重要,以避免诸如肝肾综合征等严重并发症,正是这种并发症导致了我们患者临床状况的迅速恶化。为了制定食管神经内分泌肿瘤的治疗指南,还需要更多的研究。