Appendiceal malignant tumors among patients with acute appendicitis

Background Acute appendicitis can be the first manifestation of an appendiceal tumor Aim To evaluate the incidence of appendiceal tumors among patients operated for acute appendicitis Material and Methods All patients operated for acute appendicitis between 1998 and 2008 and whose appendix had a pathological study were included Survival was calculated using national death register databases Results Data from 6 093 patients was analyzed A malignant tumor was found in 17 patients (0 3%) Eleven patients aged 23 +/- 14 years had a carcinoid tumor, that was more commonly located distally, five patients aged 66 +/- 18 years had an adenocarcinoma, that was more commonly located proximally, and one patient had a non Hodgkin lymphoma Curative surgery was carried out in all carcinoid tumors and 40% of adenocarcinomas No patient had regional lymph node involvement Five years survival of patients with carcinoid tumors was 100% Conclusions The finding of malignant tumor among patients with acute appendicitis is uncommon