Metastasis of Hypopharyngeal Carcinoma into the Gastrostomy Tract After Placement of a Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy Catheter

Abstract

Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy catheters are frequently placed in patients with pharyngeal tumors. In this article, we report a patient with a metastasis of a large hypopharyngeal carcinoma in the gastrostomy tract, probably caused by placement of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy catheter by the pull method. The metastasis decreased considerably in size after high-dose radiation therapy (as had the original hypopharyngeal tumor). The patient subsequently had a curative resection of the residual metastatic tumor, but one month after the operation he died of a cerebrovascular accident.