A Case Report of Successful Surgical Management of Malignant Melanoma at the Palate and Sigmoid Colon after the Excision of Cervical Lymphnodes Metastasis

Tatsuhiko Hayashi, Yuuichi Murayama, Haruo Shimizu, Keisuke Yoshida*

Department of Surgery, Murakami Hospital
*First Department of Surgery, Niigata University, School of Medicine

The patient was an 83-year-old male who had undergone left cervical lymphadenectomy at his age of 74. In January 1989 (at the age of 81) he underwent sigmoidectomy for malignant melanoma of the sigmoid colon and on that occasion it was confirmed that the left cervical lymphnodes resected previously had been affected with metastasizing malignant melanoma. In October 1989, exterpation of the lymphnode metastasis of the malignant melanoma and left hemithyroidectomy for medullary carcinoma of the thyroid were performed. In June 1990, the primary lesion of melanoma was found at the base of the palate and removal of the lesion was performed. Since then, the patient had been placed under medical surveillance on an ambulatory basis. No sign of a recurrence has been noted to date, indicating that the surgical treatment proved to be quite effective and beneficial. Since symptomatic improvement was achieved invariably in all 7 surgically treated cases with the same condition documented so far in Japan, operative treatment seems justifiable at least in malignant melanoma cases with a solitary metastatic lesion to the degestive tract.

Key words
malignant melanoma of sigmoid colon, medullary carcinoma of thyroid

Reprint requests
Tatsuhiko Hayashi First Department of Surgery, Niigata University School of Medicine
1-757 Asahimachi-dori, Niigata, 951 JAPAN

Accepted
January 8, 1992

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