Primary lymphoblastic B-cell lymphoma of the stomach in a 14-year-old Sudanese female; a case report.

INTRODUCTION

Gastric lymphoma is an extremely rare disease in children; it is usually presented with non-specific symptoms, which makes the diagnosis relatively late in most cases. Here we present a case of a primary lymphoblastic B-cell lymphoma of the stomach in a child.

CASE PRESENTATION: A 14 -year- old female presented with abdominal discomfort for three months. On examination, she had a mobile epigastric mass. The CT abdomen showed a mass occupying the lesser curvature of the stomach, which was confirmed by the endoscopy. A subtotal gastrectomy was carried out. Histopathology and flow cytometry for the specimen, along with bone marrow examination confirmed the diagnosis of primary B-cell lymphoblastic gastric lymphoma.

DISCUSSION: Primary gastric lymphoma, in particular, is a very rare gastric neoplasm. Furthermore, most of the reported cases are mature B-cell lymphoma subtypes. The clinical presentation in children is the same as for other types of primary gastric malignancies. Moreover, no guidelines are available for the management of such conditions in the paediatric age group. In our case, a surgical resection was carried out; as the initial endoscopic biopsy was suspicious for adenocarcinoma, further workup confirmed the diagnosis of primary lymphoblastic B-cell lymphoma of the stomach.

CONCLUSION

Early detection of gastric malignancies in children is a key element in the prognosis. In addition, optimal surgical resection showed a very good outcome.