[GASTRIC CANCER IN PATIENTS YOUNGER THAN FORTY YEARS OLD.HOSPITAL LOAYZA EXPERIENCE BETWEEN 1991 - 1998]
A retrospective study was performed on patients diagnosed of gastric cancer, younger than 40 years old, in the Hospital Arzobispo Loayza, from January 1991 to December 1998.We found 81 patients younger than 40 years old, with confirmed diagnosis of gastric adenocarcinoma; we reviewed the records of 59 patients.There were 44 (74.6%) women and 15 (25.4%) men. The mean age was 31.644 +- 5.437 years and the mean duration of symptoms was 13.189 months.The most common symptoms were: epigastric pain (89.8%), weight loss (86.4%), dyspepsia (64.4%),vomiting (64.4%) and nausea (62.7%). The most frequent physical findings were pallor (62.7%), epigastric tenderness (40.7%) and emaciation (37.3%). 57.8% of patients had hemoglobine levels of less than 11 gr/dl.The most frequent location of the neoplasm was the antrum (31.1%) followed by the body (27.3%).On endoscopy, we observed that the most frequent lesion was advanced gastric cancer, Borrmann III (48%), followed by Borrmann IV (27.3%). The predominant histologic type was undifferentiated adenocarcinoma.
Fabiola
F
Rivera
Augusto
A
Nago
Alejandro
A
Bussalleu
Ruth
R
Medina
Olga
O
Lizama
G.
G
Loayza