Abstract
Pyogenic granulomas represent the aquisition of vasodilative granulation tissue in the skin or mucosa. They are extremely rare in the alimentary tract, other than in the oral cavity. Here, we report a case of pyogenic granuloma arising from the gastric mucosa. An 82-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of melena of more than 3 months, duration. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) revealed a 30-mm-diameter semipedunculated lesion with an irregular surface in the fundus of the stomach. During hospitalization, the patient's anemia worsened due to loss of blood from the lesion, with the level of hemoglobin declining to 6 g/dl, and a blood transfusion was required. Because radiological and endoscopic findings indicated the lesion was hypervascular, transarterial embolization of the nutritional artery of the lesion was performed before endoscopic resection of the lesion. One week after the embolotherapy, endoscopic mucosal resection was performed, without any complications, such as massive bleeding. Histological studies of the resected specimen revealed many capillaries of various sizes, lined with plump endothelial cells, and accompanied by acute and chronic inflammatory infiltrates. On the basis of these observations, the lesion was diagnosed as a pyogenic granuloma. One year later, the patient was asymptomatic and there was no evidence of tumor recurrence on follow-up EGD.
