Isolated splenic metastases from gastric carcinoma:A case report and literature review

Isolated metastases to the spleen from gastric carcinoma is very rare. Only a few cases have been reported in the literature. We herein present a case of isolated splenic metastases in a 62-year-old man, occurring 12 mo after total gastrectomy for gastric carcinoma. The patient underwent a laparoscopic exploration, during which two lesions were found at the upper pole of the spleen, without involvement of other organs. A laparoscopic splenectomy was performed. Histological examination confirmed that the splenic tumor was a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma similar to the primary gastric lesion. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient has been well for 9 mo, with no tumor recurrence. The clinical data of 18 cases of isolated splenic metastases from gastric carcinoma treated by splenectomy were summarized after a literature review. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of isolated splenic metastases undergoing laparoscopic splenectomy.