Carcinoid of the Ileum

Malignant neoplasms of the small intestine are rare, comprising 1%-3% of those occurring in the gastrointestinal tract.2Malignant tumors of the jejunoileum are twice as frequent as the benign type.3One case of every 15 or 20 cases in the malignant group is a carcinoid.1Ariel4reports an incidence of 8.3% of carcinoid in his series of resected neoplasms of the small intestine. Carcinoids of the small intestine are frequently an incidental finding at surgery or autopsy. Dockerty5and Foreman6believe the ileum to be the commonest site of extraappendiceal carcinoid, whereas Hines, Hanley, and Boese7and Mrazek, Godwin, and Mohardt8report rectal lesions to be the commonest extraappendiceal source. Of small intestinal carcinoids, 24.9% metastasize, but appendiceal carcinoid usually does not.4 Carcinoid of the small intestine produced symptoms in about 36% of the cases and, when symptomatic, was associated with