Fecaloma is a mass of hardened feces impacted mostly in left colon and rectum. Several causes of fecalomas have been described in literature, of which chronic constipation. It is a common pathology in elderly patients. The non-specific clinical signs, harmless, sometimes misleading, are at the origin of long evolutions which can lead to real life-threatening situations [1]. We herein report the case of a 61-year-old patient who presents a giant fecaloma located in the sigmoid colon and rectum, associated to urinary retention.
Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are the most common mesenchymal tumors of the digestive tract. Most gastrointestinal soft tissue neoplasms, previously classified as leiomyomas, leiomyoblastomas, schwannomas or leiomyosarcomas, are now classified as GISTs on the basisof histology, molecular study and immunohistochemistry. They originate from the stem cells which differentiate toward the pacemaker cell (Interstitial cell of Cajal). Prognostic factors have been identified for GISTs,they include the tumor size and the mitotic rate. Surgery is the standard treatment for resectable GISTs. Metastatic and inoperable GISTs should consider medication with tyrosine kinase inhibitor (imatinib mesylate), which inhibits the c-kit receptor. We present the case of a locally advanced giant stromal tumor that became resectable after neoadjuvant chemotherapy with Imatinib; our work shows the importance of this molecule which can modify tumor status and surgical prognosis in locally advanced or metastatic GISTs.
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