A 24-year-old thin Caucasian female with a very vague stated history of “some kind of tumor in my appendix when they took it out,” says she did not go back for any follow-up. Upon receipt of the patient’s prior records, I saw that the pathology on her diseased appendix noted an incidental finding of an 11-mm carcinoid tumor. These are classified as neuroendocrine tumors because they are capable of releasing hormones into the bloodstream. This is usually only seen in metastatic disease. They are most often found unexpectedly during other abdominal or pelvic surgeries. They are small and slow-growing with a very low rate of metastasis. Primary treatment is surgical removal, and then nuclear imaging, usually an octreoscan, is performed. Subsequent treatment is graded by size, with tumors less than 1 cm in diameter being considered cured. (208-8)—Contributed by SHERRIL SEGO, FNP-C, DNP
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