Case Report
Ischemic Gastropathic Ulcer Mimics Gastric Cancer
Saleh Daher,
1
Ziv Lahav,
2
Ayman Abu Rmeileh,
2
Meir Mizrahi,
3
and Tawfik Khoury
1
1
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical Center,
P.O. Box 12000, Ein Kerem, 91120 Jerusalem, Israel
2
Department of Internal Medicine, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical Center, P.O. Box 12000, 91120 Jerusalem, Israel
3
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Advanced Endoscopy Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center,
Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Avenue, Stoneman 458, Boston, MA 02215, USA
Correspondence should be addressed to Tawfk Khoury; tawfkkhoury1@hotmail.com
Received 21 February 2016; Revised 28 June 2016; Accepted 19 July 2016
Academic Editor: R. J. L. F. Lofeld
Copyright © 2016 Saleh Daher et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Gastric ulcer due to mesenteric ischemia is a rare clinical fnding. As a result, few reports of ischemic gastric ulcers have been
reported in the literature. Te diagnosis of ischemic gastropathy is seldom considered in patients presenting with abdominal pain
and gastric ulcers. In this case report, we describe a patient with increasing abdominal pain, weight loss, and gastric ulcers, who
underwent extensive medical evaluation and whose symptoms were resistant to medical interventions. Finally he was diagnosed
with chronic mesenteric ischemia, and his clinical and endoscopic abnormalities resolved afer surgical revascularization of both
the superior mesenteric artery and the celiac trunk.
1. Introduction
Chronic mesenteric ischemia classically presents as “abdom-
inal angina,” characterized by generalized postprandial ab-
dominal pain lasting up to 3 hours, as well as weight loss
and upper-abdominal bruit. Symptoms are not specifc and
ofen mistakenly attributed to other gastrointestinal etiolo-
gies, such as peptic ulcer or gallstones. Gastric ischemia is
not commonly encountered because of the rich collateral
blood supply to the stomach, making gastric ulceration from
ischemia a rare condition [1–3]. Gastric ischemia manifested
as gastric ulcer might result from localized or difuse vascular
insufciency caused by etiologies such as systemic hypoten-
sion, vasculitis, or localized thromboembolism. However,
Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection is considered to be the
major cause of peptic ulcer disease, and the use of nons-
teroidal anti-infammatory drugs (NSAIDs) accounts for the
majority of the remainder [4]. Herein we report a long-
standing case of chronic mesenteric ischemia where an HP-
negative gastric ulcer and not associated with the use of
NSAIDs was detected in the initial evaluation. Te pa-
tient’s complaints ultimately responded to revascularization
surgery, with resolution of his non-NSAID, non-HP gastric
ulcers.
2. Case Report
A 46-year-old male presented with progressive, mostly post-
prandial abdominal pain, and signifcant weight loss of
almost 44 lb. in a six-month period.
His medical history was notable for heavy smoking for
the past 30 years and cholelithiasis. His medications included
40 mg esomeprazole once a day.
Four months prior to presentation, he underwent an
esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) to evaluate similar
complaints and was diagnosed with peptic ulcer disease
(PUD) with positive HP. No improvement followed a course
of a high dosage of esomeprazole and Helicobacter eradica-
tion therapy.
On admission the patient was stable, with a heart rate of
65 beats/min., blood pressure of 110/60 mmHg, and oxygen
saturation of 98%. His physical examination was unremark-
able except for epigastric tenderness and bilateral temporal
and extremities wasting. Laboratory tests revealed normal
CBC, kidney, and liver function. His C-reactive protein and
erythrocyte sedimentation rate were also unremarkable.
Upon admission, a review of a computed tomography
(CT) scan was done in an outpatient setting and revealed
fatty liver, thickened gastric wall (Figure 1), and a hypodense
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Case Reports in Gastrointestinal Medicine
Volume 2016, Article ID 9745854, 4 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/9745854