Ijaz Ahmad, Abid Haleem, Anwar Syed, Zahid Khan.
Gastrointestinal stromal tumors.
J Med Sci Jan ;19(1):35-8.

Objective: To study the clinical presentation, results of investigations and treatment of the recently identified tumor entity Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GISTs). Material and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted in the Department of Surgery, Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar from January 2002 to December 2010. Eight patients were admitted from OPD and two patients shifted from medical units. All these patients were investigated thoroughly before surgery, including computerised tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and endoscopy apart from the baseline investigations. Post operatively, all these cases are being followed initially at three month intervals, then at six months in the second year and later on at one year intervals. Results: There were four female and six male patients between the ages of 40 and 65 years. The mean age of the patients was 58.5 years. The main clinical features at the time of presentation were a palpable mass in the abdomen, hematemesis and malena. The small intestine was involved in 7 cases and stomach in 3. Investigations performed were ultrasound of the abdomen and computerized trans-axial abdominal scan in all the cases. Endoscopy, angiography and biopsy were performed in some. The investigations did not confirm the diagnoses in any patient. Diagnosis was established after surgery in all the cases. All the patients were treated with surgery alone with good result. Conclusions: The diagnosis of gastrointestinal stromal tumors is confirmed after surgery. The gold standard in treatment is complete surgical resection of the tumor.

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