A CASE OF PERSIMMON BEZOAR ASSOCIATED WITH MULTIPLE GASTRIC ULCER AND EARLY GASTRIC CANCER

The patient was a 70-year-old man who came to our hospital with a main complaint of hemastemesis. Multiple gastric ulcers and early cancer were acknowledged simultaneously with gastrolith and gastrectomy was performed. From previous medical history and infrared spectometer findings, the gastrolith was diagnosed as a phytobezoar but we could find no reports on a combined case such as ours, and it is thought that this case is an extremely rare type. As for treatment methods, various means have been suggested, but recently, attention has been focused on en-doscopic lithotrity and extraction methods. Although there are many opinions as to the origins of combined cases, it must be said that this patient was inclined to suffer from gastric ulcers previously, which, with the addition of mechanical stimulation, could have fostered the growth of ulcer generation. In our case, the patient had a 10-year history of ulcers and it is thought that functional and morphologic changes together with age factors all contributed to the generation of the gastrolith. It is thought that continuous stimulation from gastroliths could be one factor in the generation of gastric carcinoma but the origin is still unknown.