title: Rectal granular-cell tumor difficult to distinguish from carcinoid tumor.
abstract: A 60-year-old man had a positive fecal occult-blood test on a medical check-up. Colonoscopy revealed a yellowish-white submucosal tumor 8 mm in diameter in the rectum. Endoscopic ultrasonography showed a well-demarcated mass with a homogeneous, low-level, internal echo in the second to third layers of the rectal wall. A carcinoid tumor was suspected, and the mass was resected endoscopically. Histopathological examination revealed a granular-cell tumor. Gastrointestinal granular-cell tumors rarely arise in the rectum, and the preoperative diagnosis of small lesions is often difficult. In our patient, granular-cell tumor was difficult to differentially diagnose because the endoscopic and endoscopic ultrasonographic findings closely resembled those of carcinoid tumor. Interestingly, the endoscopic characteristics of the rectal granular-cell tumor in our patient resembled those of a carcinoid tumor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology Pathology, Kitasato University East Hospital, Kanagawa, Japan. teppei531230@yahoo.co.jp
authors.forename: Teppei
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakanome
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.forename: Hitomi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.forename: Satomi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Haruki
authors.forename: Miwa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sada
authors.forename: Kiyonori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Katsunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saigenji
authors.forename: Tomoe
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Katsumata
authors.forename: Atsuko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hara
authors.forename: Isao
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Okayasu
mesh_terms: D001706:Biopsy; D003113:Colonoscopy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D019160:Endosonography; D016586:Granular Cell Tumor / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*