title: A case of an undifferentiated small cell carcinoma of the esophagus with a primary abdominal mass.
abstract: This paper reports a case with an undifferentiated carcinoma of the esophagus which primarily developed symptoms due to metastatic lesions. The case was a 59-year-old woman with a primary manifestation of an abdominal mass and with subsequent dysphagia. A protruding lesion with ulceration was found at the lower third of the thoracic esophagus by endoscopic examination and was histologically proved to be an undifferentiated carcinoma by biopsy. The abdominal mass was initially thought to be due to metastasis to an abdominal lymph node based on the diagnosis image finding at admission, but it was consequently found by autopsy to be a metastatic tumor in the liver. Therefore, undifferentiated carcinoma of the esophagus should be take into account for differential diagnosis of an abdominal mass.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Shakaihoken Tagawa Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Inada
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Toyonaga
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Itano
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kuwano
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sano
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Maekawa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawahara
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tsuruta
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanikawa
mesh_terms: D000008:Abdominal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D018288:Carcinoma, Small Cell / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000556:secondary*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000556:secondary*; D008875:Middle Aged