Chapter17: INTESTINES:Tumors of the Appendix

Question 1

What is the most common tumor of the appendix ?

Answer 1

carcinoid.

It is usually discovered incidentally at
the time of surgery or examination of a resected appendix.

Question 2

Carcinoid of the appendix most frequently involves what?

Answer 2

distal tip of the appendix,

where it produces a solid bulbous swelling up to 2 to 3 cm in diameter.

Although intramural and transmural extension may be evident, nodal metastases are very infrequent, and distant spread is exceptionally rare.

Question 3

Conventional adenomas or nonmucin-
producing adenocarcinomas also occur in the appendix and may cause what?

Answer 3

obstruction and
enlargement that mimics acute appendicitis.

Question 4

What is a Mucocele?

Answer 4

Mucocele, a dilated appendix filled with mucin, may
simply represent an obstructed appendix containing inspissated mucin or be a consequence of
mucinous cystadenoma or mucinous cystadenocarcinoma

. In the latter instance, invasion
through the appendiceal wall can lead to intraperitoneal seeding and spread.

In women the
resulting peritoneal implants may be mistaken for mucinous ovarian tumors.

Question 5

What is a pseudomyxoma peritoneii?

Answer 5

In the most
a**dvanced cases the abdomen fills with tenaciou**s, **semisolid mucin**, a condition called
pseudomyxoma peritoneii ( Chapter 22 ).

This disseminated intraperitoneal disease may be
held in check for years by repeated debulking but, in most instances, follows an inexorably fatal
course.