Discovery of early gastric remnant carcinoma

Partial gastrectomy for benign ulcer disease has been associated with an increased incidence of mucosal dysplasia and invasive adenocarcinoma, particularly in patients who are 15–20 years postresection. Using a planned protocol of routine endoscopic surveillance with biopsy, 163 patients who were at least 10 years postgastrectomy for benign ulcer disease have undergone screening flexible esophagogas-troduodenoscopy (EGD) between July 1980 and August 1994. The completed study group consists of 153 patients who have been examined at least yearly over the 14-year period of surveillance. Routine biopsies from various areas of the gastric remnant have been interpreted for dysplasia or early gastric adenocarcinoma. Patients who evidenced significant dysplasia or adenocarcinoma were offered complete gastrectomy during the study. Results of this ongoing 14-year screening program revealed severe dysplasia of the gastric remnant in 13 patients (8.4%) with eventual findings of adenocarcinoma in seven of this group (54%). These seven patients underwent total gastrectomy with findings of limited disease. Six patients continue to be followed with evidence of dysplasia. During this 14-year screening program, seven patients undergoing completion gastrectomy for early gastric remnant adenocarcinoma continue to be well and free of disease. This aggressive screening program supports the concept that neoplastic change in the gastric remnant is a function of time from the initial gastric resection. Patients identified with early gastric remnant carcinoma benefit by completion gastrectomy. In addition, patients harboring dysplasia in the gastric remnant should continue to be followed in an aggressive screening protocol utilizing random biopsy.     

Early detection of gastric remnant carcinoma. The role of gastroscopic screening

Partial gastrectomy for benign ulcer disease has been associated with carcinoma in the gastric remnant. To detect formation of this cancer in patients having undergone this operation, we initiated a screening protocol using barium contrast studies, flexible gastroscopy, and biopsy. Patients were selected from a group of 233 patients who had undergone partial gastrectomy for benign disease between 1960 and 1975. In this group, operations for duodenal ulcer had been performed in 156 patients (83 Billroth I and 73 Billroth II reconstructions) and subtotal gastrectomy in 77 patients with gastric ulcer (17 Billroth I and 60 Billroth II reconstructions). From July 1980 to July 1985, 163 patients underwent gastroscopy and biopsy with a median postoperative interval of 14.6 years. Through screening, three resectable remnant carcinomas were found. We conclude that routine gastroscopy leads to earlier detection and a higher rate of resectability if gastric remnant carcinoma is found; yearly screening should be performed after a ten-year postresection interval; and gastroscopic biopsy is more accurate than upper gastrointestinal tract barium contrast studies and should be used preferentially to identify gastric remnant carcinoma.     

良性和恶性病因术后残胃黏膜组织学变化特征及幽门螺杆菌感染状况

目的分析良性和恶性病因术后残胃黏膜组织学变化特征与幽门螺杆菌感染状况的关系。 方法回顾性分析2014年2月至2019年2月于四川省石棉县人民医院因良性和恶性病因行胃部手术治疗患者共80例,其中36例为良性消化性溃疡患者（良性组）,44例为早期胃患癌者（胃癌组）,两组患者术后均行黏膜组织学与胃镜检测。分析入组患者病例资料（首次行胃大部切除手术时年龄、性别、术后病程、行胃镜检测年龄、幽门螺杆菌感染、手术病因、病理和胃镜检测结果和手术方式等）,观察患者胃黏膜病变[慢性萎缩性胃炎（CAG）、肠化生（IM）和异型增生（DYS）发生率]、幽门螺杆菌感染率与胃黏膜炎症与活动性异常等,比较两组患者中幽门螺杆菌感染者与未感染者胃黏膜的病理特征。 结果良性组患者手术年龄为（40.46 ± 6.71）岁,低于胃癌组[（54.08 ± 8.17）岁],胃镜检测年龄及术后病程分别为（67.78 ± 11.36）岁、（27.26 ± 8.87）年,高于胃癌组[（61.99 ± 11.03）岁和（8.04 ± 6.57）年],差异均有统计学意义（t = 10.419、P < 0.001,t = 3.102、P = 0.003,t = 13.964、P < 0.001）;良性组患者幽门螺杆菌感染和胃黏膜活动性异常比例分别为47.22%（17/36）和66.67%（24/36）,均显著高于胃癌组[31.82%（14/44）和40.91%（18/44）],差异有统计学意义（χ² = 4.147、P = 0.039,χ² = 8.239、P = 0.003）。良性组、胃癌组患者中幽门螺杆菌感染者胃黏膜活动性异常、CAG及癌前病变比例均高于无幽门螺杆菌感染者,而NAG比率低于无幽门螺杆菌感染者,差异均有统计学意义（P均< 0.05）。 结论胃大部切除手术后残胃黏膜病变与进展和幽门螺杆菌感染存在一定关系,为预防残胃黏膜癌变可在幽门螺杆菌检测基础上加强胃镜随访。     

Carcinoma of the gastric remnant fed by the accessory left gastric artery--a case report

A 65-year-old female, who had undergone partial gastrectomy with Billroth II reconstruction for duodenal ulcer 22 years ago, visited our hospital with a complaint of anorexia. Roentgenogram and endoscopic examination revealed a protruding lesion on the posterior wall of the gastric remnant. An endoscopic biopsy specimen was histologically regarded as carcinoma. Proper hepatic arteriography revealed an accessory left gastric artery arising from the left hepatic artery, which was a main feeder to the tumor. Total gastrectomy with lymph node dissection and splenectomy were performed. Histology of the tumor was poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma located in the submucosal layer. To our knowledge, there is no report about the carcinoma of the gastric remnant fed by the accessory left gastric artery.     

胃大部分切除术后残胃癌19例临床分析

目的：探讨残胃癌的早期诊断方法和手术处理方式。方法：对19例残胃癌的临床病理资料进行回顾性分析，比较胃镜和钡餐对残胃癌的诊断价值。观察根据术中探查情况采取不同手术方式对预后的影响。结果：胃镜对残胃癌的诊断率为78.9%，钡餐为47.4%。手术切除的8例中根治性残胃切除5例均存活≥3年；姑息性切除的3例，术后存活2年2例，18个月1例。行胃空肠吻合6例中4例于6个月内死亡，2例分别存活12.5个月和14个月。5例腹腔内广泛转移者仅行肿块活检术。结论：胃镜对残胃癌的诊断价值优于钡餐。根治性残胃切除患者预后较好。     

Chromoendoscopic Evaluation of Gastric Mucosa after Partial Gastrectomy by Use of Modified Endoscopic Congo Red Test

The need for partial gastrectomy has decreased as a result of reduced incidence and improved endoscopic and medical treatment of peptic ulcer disease. Nonetheless, several patients with resected stomach remain in the population, and it is well known that important pathological changes can occur in the gastric remnant. We evaluated the morphological and functional status of the gastric stump by use of modified endoscopic Congo red test (MCRT). For this purpose, 87 partially gastrectomized (Billroth I and II) patients referred for elective gastroscopy were consecutively enrolled. We found a high prevalence of severe chronic atrophic fundal gastritis (CAFG) (67%) in the gastric remnant. We also observed, however, that one-third of the patients had almost unaffected gastric acid production even as long as 26 years after partial gastrectomy. Moreover, the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of routine gastroscopy in diagnosing CAFG in the gastric stump were found to be 55%, 50%, and 84%, respectively. The presence of bile reflux correlated well with the degree of CAFG. Importantly, we observed that more than 71% of the patients receiving acid-suppressing therapy had no or very little capacity to produce gastric acid. Taken together, our study has demonstrated that MCRT is a simple and well-tolerated method providing important morphological and functional information about the mucosa of the resected stomach. Furthermore, MCRT was superior to routine gastroscopy in diagnosing CAFG in the gastric stump. Outcome studies should define the clinical benefit of MCRT in the management of patients with resected stomach.     

Late precancerous changes and carcinoma of the gastric stump after Billroth I resection

Carcinoma of the gastric remnant after resection for benign ulcers is regarded as a rare complication after Billroth I resection. In seventy-four patients reexamined by gastroscopy and multiple biopsies ten to twenty-two years after gastric resection four cases of cancer of the gastric stump were diagnosed and the patients operated on. Another eight patients had regenerative polyps and one patient had a tubular adenoma. The histologic findings in gastroscopic biopsy specimens from the gastric stoma and fundus are compared. Possible precancerous changes and etiologic aspects are discussed briefly. Repeated gastroscopy is recommended starting about ten years after gastric resection for benign ulcers.     

The incidence of gastric stump cancer

A prospective study, consisting of annual interview, has been carried out on 225 patients who had a partial gastrectomy between 1955 and 1960, a follow-up of between 22 and 27 years. Seventy-seven patients have died during followup, with an accurate cause of death known in 71. One patient died of gastric stump cancer 17 years after a Polya gastrectomy for duodenal ulcer, representing the only stomach cancer in this series. This is an incidence of 0.44% as compared to an incidence of 0.1% for the general population of similar age. We have reviewed the literature with regard to the incidence of gastric stump cancer. This review and our own data suggest that the incidence is sufficiently low to make annual endoscopy of asymptomatic post-gastrectomy patients unjustified. This conclusion may well need qualification if it becomes possible to define premalignant changes in gastric mucosa from endoscopic biopsy, so that a high-risk subpopulation can be identified.     

Early gastric cancer: report of twenty-five cases.

Among 267 surgical specimens of histologically proved cancer of the stomach during the last 20 years (1957 to 1976), 25 were classified as early gastric cancer. Of these early gastric cancers, 16 were found during the last 5 year period. The increasing number of early gastric cancers found in the recent years may be attributed to the more aggressive diagnostic approaches in patients who have symptoms suggestive of peptic ulcer disease. Another factor which may contribute to the increased incidence of early detection of gastric cancer is a more aggressive surgical treatment in patients with a gastric ulcer. Some patients with early gastric cancer will remain undetected if the surgical treatment was vagotomy and pyloroplasty. Lymph node metastases were present in six patients in this series. Of these 25 patients who had gastric resection for early cancer, follow-up was available in 20. Two patients were noted to have local recurrence at 3 and 8 years, respectively, after the initial operation. One of these two patients died after reoperation and the other still is living. One other patient died of cerebral hemorrhage 12 years following the initial operation of gastric resection. The remaining 17 patients all are living, with no evidence of recurrence. From these results it is concluded that (1) routine gastroscopy should be done in patients with radiological gastric abnormalities and in patients with symptoms suggestive of peptic ulcer disease, even though the upper gastrointestinal series is normal; (2) multiple biopsies should be taken from gastric lesions seen on gastroscopy; and (3) gastrectomy is the treatment of choice, since some of the early gastric cancers in this series would have remained undetected if vagotomy and pyloroplasty had been performed.     

Analysis of 58 patients surviving more than ten years after operative treatment of gastric cancer

We evaluated 58 patients who were still alive more than ten years after operative treatment of gastric cancer. We reexamined their histologic specimens and compared them with those of matched paired controls of the same sex and age who had died of gastric cancer. Forty-two patients consented to a follow-up study. The age of the patients did not affect survival. For patients with gastric cancer, those with distal cancer or an ulcer simulating cancer had had a better prognosis. Forty percent of the patients had had an early gastric cancer. Only two patients had had lymph node metastases in regional lymph nodes, and macroscopic tumor growth through the serosa had been recorded in only four cases. In 23 cases, a distal resection had proved successful. No significant correlation between intestinal or diffuse types of cancer and prognosis was observed. One recurrence after ten years was found; in one case, there was a new cancer in the gastric remnant. In addition, biopsy specimens from two patients showed grave dysplasia. We suggest that throughout their lives annual follow-up examinations be performed in patients who have undergone radical operations for gastric cancer.     

Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass with Remnant Gastrectomy for Focal Intestinal Metaplasia of the Gastric Antrum

Background: Inaccessibilility of the excluded stomach after isolated gastric bypass prevents postoperative evaluation and treatment of disorders of the gastric remnant. Bleeding complications, peptic ulcer disease, and gastric malignancy in the gastric remnant have all been reported. We report a patient with morbid obesity and focal intestinal metaplasia in the antrum of the stomach that was treated with laparoscopic Roux-en-y gastric bypass (LRYGBP) with remnant gastrectomy. Case Report: A 46-year-old female with a long history of morbid obesity presented with a BMI of 47 kg/m². Preoperative upper endoscopy revealed focal intestinal metaplasia. Since intestinal metaplasia is a risk factor for gastric cancer, a LRYGBP with remnant gastrectomy was performed. Conclusions: LRYGBP with remnant gastrectomy is a safe and cost-effective treatment for morbidly obese patients with focal intestinal metaplasia of the stomach.     

Diagnostic variation and outcome for high-grade gastric epithelial dysplasia

HYPOTHESIS: High-grade dysplasia (HGD) of the gastric epithelium is associated with high prevalence of invasive carcinoma, and distinction by endoscopic biopsy is difficult. DESIGN: Cohort study, 1996 to 2003. SETTING: Tertiary care center. PATIENTS: Consecutive sample of 22 patients with initial diagnosis of gastric HGD by endoscopic biopsy. Biopsy specimens were separately reviewed by 3 experienced pathologists. Clinical management was individually decided. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Strength of interpathologist agreement (kappa) and final pathological diagnosis. RESULTS: The diagnosis was revised to intramucosal carcinoma in 14% to 32% of patients or suspicious for invasive carcinoma in 23% to 41%. The strength of agreement between any 2 pathologists for distinguishing between dysplasia and invasive carcinoma was fair (kappa = 0.35-0.36). A diagnosis of intramucosal carcinoma or suspicious for invasive carcinoma by 2 pathologists correlated strongly with subsequent detection of invasive carcinoma. Three patients underwent gastrectomy for HGD, and invasive carcinoma was detected in all (2 patients, T1 N0; 1 patient, T2 N0). Six patients had invasive carcinoma on endoscopic surveillance at a median of 15 months (range, 3-34 months) after diagnosis of HGD and underwent endoscopic mucosal resection (2 patients, T1 NX), gastrectomy (2 patients, T1 N0), or no resection (2 patients). Another patient had metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma despite having a diagnosis of only HGD by endoscopy. Seven patients (32%) died of unrelated causes, without invasive carcinoma, at a median of 19 months (range, 1-38 months). Three patients were alive with persistent HGD at 26 to 61 months. Two patients had no dysplasia on follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Experienced pathologists often disagreed in distinguishing invasive carcinoma from HGD in gastric biopsy specimens. One third of patients with gastric HGD died of causes unrelated to cancer. Invasive carcinoma was detected in 67% of the remainder.     

Regurgitant bile acids and mucosal injury of the gastric remnant after partial gastrectomy

Three groups, each consisting of seven patients who had undergone either Billroth I, Billroth II, or pylorus-preserving gastrectomies, were evaluated more than 18 months postoperatively in terms of concentration and amount of bile acids in the gastric aspirate and histologic changes in the gastric remnant mucosa. Concentrations of bile acids were determined by gas chromatography and mucosal specimens were obtained by endoscopic biopsy. The total bile acid concentration and all of the individual fractional bile acid levels, whether free or conjugated, were significantly higher in the Billroth II group than in the other two groups. The amount of gastric aspirate was also highest in the Billroth II group. Endoscopic biopsy revealed glandular dysplasia to be predominantly in the Billroth II group. The presence of bile acids in the gastric remnant may contribute to mucosal injury, possibly leading to cancer in the gastric remnant, especially after the Billroth II operation.     

Evidence to support a unified pathogenesis of gastric stump cancer

Summary Background Many studies indicate that remote partial gastrectomy for benign disease should be considered a premalignant condition. The reported overall risk of gastric stump cancer is approximately a 2-fold increase, but patients more than 20 to 25 years postoperatively may have a 4- to 5-fold increased risk, compared to the age- and sex-matched general population. Methods In a review the risks, the pathogenesis and the value of endoscopy to avoid gastric stump cancer are described. Results The duration of postoperative interval seems the most important risk factor. The first 10 years after initial surgery. gastric cancer risk may be reduced due to the removal of the most cancer prone distal part of the stomach, but thereafter there seems a rapid increase of the relative risk. The etiology and precise mechanism of carcinogenesis is unknown but the time relationship with the surgery suggests that alterations induced by the operation must be important. Premalignant and precursor lesions apparently occur more frequently in the gastric remnant after peptic ulcer surgery and endoscopic bioptic screening can detect early stump cancers at a curable stage. Conclusions Large scale screening programs of post-gastrectomy patients are nevertheless not recommended; the yield of early stomach carcinomas appears too low to justify surveillance. The individual postgastrectomy patient willing to undergo regular endoscopy may however benefit from such approach. In that event, multiple biopsies should be taken to assess the microscopic appearance of the mucosa. Especially dysplasia is considered as a dependable morphologic marker for the neoplastic potential of the gastric remnant and requires close follow-up.      

Gastric carcinoma following operation for peptic ulcer disease

Gastric carcinoma following operation for benign peptic ulcer disease has been considered rare but nine patients have been seen during the past five years. All were male patients, the average time interval from prior ulcer operation to development of cancer was 17 years, but was a short as ten years. The symptoms of cancer are vague and the diagnosis is often delayed. Fiberoptic endoscopy with biopsy of suspicious areas is the most accurate diagnostic approach. Resection of the tumor is indicated if feasible. The poor prognosis of this malignancy is documented. The evidence is reviewed that the creation of achlorhydria with bile reflux increases the risk of development of gastric carcinoma. All patients who undergo peptic ulcer operation require careful long-term follow-up. Vague gastrointestinal symptoms occurring ten years or more after peptic ulcer operation require full evaluation to exclude the presence of gastric cancer.     

Second follow-up study of mucosal changes in the gastric remnant after resection for peptic ulcer disease

Second follow-up 36-37, 26-27 and 15-18 years after gastric resection for peptic ulcer disease was performed for 72 patients who in the first screening five years earlier had severe atrophic gastritis and/or intestinal metaplasia in the gastric remnant mucosa. Of the 72 patients 60 were still alive. The death certificates revealed no gastric stump carcinomas among the 12 deceased patients. Neither were any cases of gastric stump carcinoma found among the 38 endoscopically screened patients. Severe atrophic gastritis, which was present in 37 patients in 1982-83, had regressed in 14 cases (p less than 0.01) and proceeded in one case. The extent of intestinal metaplasia had increased in 11 cases and decreased in five cases (p = 0.149, NS). Dysplasia, which was not seen five years ago, was now detected in four cases (10.5%). There was an association between dysplasia and incomplete intestinal metaplasia in three cases. Although these mucosal changes may be premalignant it is not possible to be categorical about the prognosis. Thus, endoscopic screening of all patients whose stomach has been resected for peptic ulcer disease cannot be recommended. Endoscopy, however, is always indicated when gastric symptoms appear in a patient with history of gastric resection.     

Gastric pseudolymphoma. A challenging clinical problem.

Gastric pseudolymphoma is a benign inflammatory condition that is usually associated with chronic gastric ulcer and often mimics gastric carcinoma or malignant lymphoma. Our experience with 12 histologically documented gastric pseudolymphomas at the Medical College of Virginia is presented with an emphasis on the approach to both diagnosis and surgical management. Preoperative diagnoses in this series ranged from benign gastric ulcer to gastric cancer. Treatment was by gastric resection in all cases and it included, as a minimum, antrectomy and excision of the lesion with an adequate gross margin. Of 11 cases with adequate follow-up, there are eight asymptomatic patients without recurrence and one patient who died of other causes without recurrence 5 years after gastrectomy. One patient developed recurrent pseudolymphoma in the proximal gastric remnant 39 months after a distal subtotal gastrectomy for pseudolymphoma. Another patient subsequently developed Hodgkin's disease of the gastric remnant, with regional lymph node and liver involvement, and died 35 months after the earlier subtotal gastrectomy for pseudolymphoma. Our clinical experience with this confusing and uncommon entity is compared with that previously reported in the medical literature.     

Laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy with laparoscopic sentinel lymph node biopsy after endoscopic mucosal resection for early gastric cancer

Background There has been a trend toward minimally invasive treatment of early gastric cancer. We report the preliminary results of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy with laparoscopic sentinel lymph node biopsy after endoscopic mucosal resection. Methods Six patients underwent laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy after endoscopic mucosal resection between February 2002 and October 2005 at Mie University Hospital. These patients first underwent laparoscopic sentinel lymph node biopsy and then laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy with lymphadenectomy. Results No patient underwent conversion to open surgery during the operation. None of the patients had any postoperative complications. The mean length of postoperative hospital stay was 11.3 days. Sentinel lymph nodes were identified laparoscopically in five patients. There were 20 sentinel and 85 nonsentinel lymph nodes in the six patients. Postoperatively, tissue sections showed that none of the lymph nodes were metastasized. Immunohistochemistry with D2-40 antibody showed that there were normal lymphatics in the submucosal layer with mucosal defects at the endoscopic mucosal resection site. No patients had any tumor recurrence during followup. Conclusions Laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy after endoscopic mucosal resection was a safe and curative procedure. Endoscopic mucosal resection before sentinel lymph node biopsy was acceptable for early gastric cancer.     

Endoscopic complete removal of the histologically unconfirmed gastric cancer with massive invasion as a giant biopsy

A 68-year-old man underwent upper GI endoscopy in a mass screening, which showed a suspicious tumor in the antral region of stomach. However, histologic examination of repeated endoscopic biopsy samples (15 samples) revealed no neoplastic change. Although all the examinations including endoscopy, endosonography, and barium study pointed to the diagnosis of gastric cancer, we did not have histologic evidence of malignancy. Hence, complete endoscopic removal of the lesion using a new method of endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) was performed as a giant biopsy. Histologic assessment of the endoscopically resected specimen confirmed invasive adenocarcinoma of the stomach. He then underwent distal gastrectomy with regional lymphadenectomy. Endoscopic resection of the tumor in the digestive tract is also a very useful diagnostic modality of the lesion when malignancy cannot be revealed by endoscopic biopsy.     

Hyperplastic polyps of the stomach: associations with histologic patterns of gastritis and gastric atrophy

Hyperplastic polyps are common gastric lesions characterized by hyperplastic foveolae with variable amounts of inflamed stroma. Their pathogenesis is unknown, but they have been reported to occur in association with various forms of chronic gastritis, particularly autoimmune gastritis and Helicobacter pylori gastritis. Comprehensive histologic evaluation of the background mucosal pathology in patients with hyperplastic polyps has not been previously performed. We studied 160 patients with gastric hyperplastic polyps and characterized endoscopic and histologic features of the polyps (i.e., location, multiplicity, and presence of dysplasia and adenocarcinoma) and the background gastric mucosa (i.e., intestinal metaplasia, dysplasia, carcinoma, and presence and classification of gastritis). Hyperplastic polyps were most common in the antrum (60%) and were multiple in 20% of patients. Focal intestinal metaplasia of the polyp was present in 16% and dysplasia in 4% of patients. Only one patient (0.6%) had adenocarcinoma within the polyp. Evaluation of the surrounding gastric mucosa showed at least focal intestinal metaplasia in 37% of patients, adenoma or low-grade flat epithelial dysplasia in 2%, and synchronous or metachronous adenocarcinoma in 6%. Eighty-five percent of patients had inflammatory mucosal pathology, most commonly active chronic H. pylori gastritis (25%), reactive or chemical gastropathy (21%), and metaplastic atrophic gastritis of the autoimmune (12%) or environmental (8%) type. These results indicate a strong association between various forms of gastritis and the development of hyperplastic polyps and further emphasize the importance of biopsy of the nonpolypoid gastric mucosa during endoscopic examination.