Computed tomography and clinical characteristics of gastric glomus tumors

ObjectiveTo provide a retrospective assessment of clinical characteristics of the patients with gastric glomus tumors and the imaging features of the tumors on multidetector row computed tomography (MDCT). MethodsConsecutive patients with gastric glomus tumor which was confirmed by postoperative pathology from January 2004 to January 2012 in a tertiary hospital were included in the study. The MDCT images and medical records of the patients including the imaging features of the tumor on MDCT such as its location, number, shape, growth pattern, size, density and enhancement pattern were retrospectively reviewed. ResultsAltogether ten patients were included in the study, including seven women and three men, with a mean age of 46.6 years (range 25-67 years). Most patients had nonspecific clinical symptoms. All lesions were located at the gastric antrum, with a mean diameter of 2.7cm. The gastric glomus tumor showed strong enhancement at the arterial phase, a progressive filled-in enhanced pattern and prolonged enhancement during multiphasic scans. ConclusionsGastric glomus tumor is clinically an extremely rare disease. The combination of tumor location, size and the characteristic enhancement pattern of the subepithelial lesion may suggest a diagnosis of gastric glomus tumor.