Description
We appreciated the report by Zakaria et al describing a 60-year old patient with overt,
recurrent gastrointestinal tract bleeding from a jejunal gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST).1 GISTs are uncommon lesions2, and conclusive demonstration thereof pre-operatively may be difficult. A 50-year old woman was hospitalised for appraisal of anaemia. She had melaena one month before admission. Although pale, her pulse and blood pressure were normal. No abdominal mass could be palpated. Iron deficiency anaemia was confirmed (Hb 7.2 mg% (normal range, 11.5-13.5) ferritin concentration 9.6 mcg/L (normal range 11-307). Oesophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed fresh and altered gastric luminal blood, emanating from a 20mm diameter ulcer on the summit of a larger, presumed sub-mucosal lesion in the gastric body.
