Primary melanoma of the small bowel revealed by gastrointestinal bleeding: a case report

Abstract

Abstract Background Primary melanoma of the small bowel is extremely rare. Only a limited number of cases have been described in the literature. Mostly, the small intestine is affected by metastatic tumors of other primary lesions, especially cutaneous. Case presentation We report the case of a 75-year-old North African woman with a small bowel melanoma. The diagnosis was made by histological examination and immunohistochemical profile matching after a segmental small bowel resection. Postoperative investigations looking for cutaneous, gastrointestinal or ocular primary lesions found no abnormalities. Conclusions The diagnosis of primary small bowel melanoma can be retained although it remains difficult to exclude the possibility of metastatic melanoma.

Keywords

• Intestinal melanoma
• Primary melanoma of the small bowel
• Gastrointestinal bleeding