Pathologique A, CHRU de Lille. The pathological examination showed a carcinoid tumor with amyloid stroma. Immunotyping of the amyloidosis showed that it was stained with the antibody directed against light chain kappa, though the amyloidosis was located within a carcinoid tumor. In recent decades refined methods in pathology improved our knowledge on the diffuse neuroendocrine system, leading to some confusion in classification and nomenclature of carcinoids. The Authors report on 7 cases of midgut carcinoid tumors and 1 case of carcinoid syndrome focusing on the newer approaches to the diagnosis, localization, and role of surgery and peptide therapy.
Lesions are clinically silent in all cases.
In fact, the finding of a carcinoid tumour was coincidental in 12 patients undergoing appendectomy for symptoms of appendicitis, and in two cases in which appendectomy was initially performed during the course of hysterectomy. Lastly, three cases were tubular type adenocarcinoids. In all cases treatment took the form of simple appendectomy. Follow-up studies are still in progress which have enabled the recidivation of neoplasia to be excluded in all patients, even 11 years after treatment. Carcinoid tumors are infrequent but not exceptional neoplasias.