An unusual case of appendicitis due to appendiceal neuroendocrine tumor in a patient: A case report

Gao,Tingting; Xu,Weijue

doi:10.3892/etm.2022.11458

An unusual case of appendicitis due to appendiceal neuroendocrine tumor in a patient: A case report

Authors:
- Tingting Gao
- Weijue Xu
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Affiliations: Department of General Surgery, Shanghai Children's Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200000, P.R. China
Published online on: June 22, 2022 https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2022.11458
Article Number: 531
Copyright: © Gao et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Appendiceal neuroendocrine tumor (NET) is the most common type of appendiceal cancer and is rare in the pediatric population. The clinical characteristics of this cancer are not specific and are highly similar to those of acute appendicitis. By contrast, acute appendicitis is a common surgical indication that is caused by obstruction of the appendix lumen. With a detection rate of 0.5‑1% in all appendectomy specimens, appendiceal NET is rare histopathologically and can easily be missed. However, detecting an appendiceal NET in a patient with appendicitis is highly difficult. Therefore, clinicians must be aware of this much under‑reported and rare tumor in children. In the present report, a case was reported, of a 13‑year‑old female child who initially presented with clinical presentation of acute appendicitis, but was subsequently diagnosed with appendiceal NET by histopathological examination after an emergency appendectomy. Follow‑up examination including abdominal enhanced CT and enteroscopy 2 years after surgery revealed normal results.

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