Mucinous adenocarcinoma of the appendix: a case report and literature review

Abstract

Primary adenocarcinoma of the appendix is a rare disease as compared with cancer of the colon. It is common in patients in the middle age. Mucinous adenocarcinoma is one of the histological types seen. The usual presentation of patients is acute appendicitis or peri –appendicular abscess. Diagnosis is often made after the surgical specimen has been sent for histopathological review. It is important to rule out synchronous and metachronous tumour during surgery. We present a case of a 42 year old female whom an appendectomy had been attempted, the procedure was aborted and she developed an enterocutaneous fistula prior to presentation in our hospital. At exploratory laparotomy, the fistulous tract was excised and an appendectomy done. Histological report was that of mucinous adenocarcinoma. There was no synchronous or metachronous tumour in the patient and she did well after surgery. Mucinous adenocarcinoma of the appendix is a diagnosis made on histopathological assessment and is a very rare tumour. To the best knowledge of the authors, there is no known reported case of the disease in Nigeria. Thus, physicians and surgeons should entertain a diagnosis of the disease in middle aged patients such that exploration of bowel is performed with thorough surgical surveillance for synchronous and metachronous tumours.