Radiologic Findings of Submucosal Tumors of Gastrointestinal Tract

ABSTRACT

Gastrointestinal submucosal tumors originate from submucosal histologic structures such as muscles, lymph nodes, nerves, fibers and vessels. Most patients are asymptomatic. Lesions that are large or ulcerated may cause abdominal pain or upper gastrointestinal bleeding, and those that grow intraluminally sometimes become pedunculated and occasionally prolapse to cause intussusception. Adenocarcinoma is the most common primary gastrointestinal tumor, accounting for approximately 90-9 5 % of such lesions, while submucosal tumors account for approximately 2 -6% of all gastrointestinal tumors. Because their overlying mucosa appears normal, submucosal tumors age after difficult to visualize endo-scopically, and for this reason, barium studies or CT scans are helpful for diagnosis. In this paper, variable CT and barium study findings of the different types of gastrointestinal submucosal tumor are demonstrated, and a brief discussion of the respective disease entities is included.