Liang-Yu Shih, Department of Anatomic Pathology, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi General Hospital, Chiayi 62247, Taiwan
Chang-Kuo Wei, Department of General Surgery, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi General Hospital, Chiayi 62247, Taiwan
Chih-Wen Lin, Department of Medical Imaging, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi General Hospital, Chiayi 62247, Taiwan
Chih-En Tseng, Department of Anatomic Pathology, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi General Hospital, Chiayi 62247, Taiwan
Chih-En Tseng, School of Medicine, Buddhist Tzu Chi University, Hualien 97004, Taiwan
Author contributions: Wei CK and Lin CW collected and interpreted the clinical data; Shih LY and Tseng CE wrote the paper.
Supported by The Buddhist Dalin Tzu-Chi General Hospital
Correspondence to: Chih-En Tseng, MD, Department of Anatomic Pathology, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi General Hospital, 2, Min-Sheng Road, Dalin, Chiayi 62247, Taiwan. p121521@gmail.com
Telephone: +886-5-2648000 Fax: +886-5-2648999
Received: May 6, 2012 Revised: July 23, 2012 Accepted: August 14, 2012 Published online: November 14, 2012
Abstract
Desmoid tumor is a locally invasive, myofibroblastic, nonmetastatic tumor. Its pathogenesis remains unclear and it may involve genetic abnormalities, sex hormones and traumatic injury, including surgery. Postoperative intra-abdominal desmoid tumor is rare, especially in the retroperitoneum. We report a case of postoperative retroperitoneal desmoid tumor that developed 29 mo after the first excision of a gastrointestinal stromal tumor. Sporadic trauma-related intra-abdominal desmoid tumors reported in the English literature are also reviewed. Despite an extremely low incidence, postoperative desmoid tumor should be considered in the differential diagnosis when a recurrent neoplasm is found at least one year after operation. However, it is a clinical challenge to distinguish recurrent malignant neoplasms from desmoid tumors, and surgical resection is the treatment option depending on the anatomic location.
