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Abdominal pain and high CEA levels

    Author: Franco Iafrate, Marcella Iannitti, Paolo Baldassari, Rome, Italy
    Body Region: CT Colonography

    1. Patient presentation
    2. CT Images
    3. CT Findings
    4. Diagnosis
    5. References

    1. Patient presentation

    • A 76-year-old woman reported abdominal pain that had started 3 months earlier.
    • Her medical history included gastrectomy and chemotherapy for gastric cancer.
    • Laboratory tests indicated elevated levels of CEA, but other values were normal.
    • Conventional colonoscopy was incomplete at a distance of 100 cm from the anal margin because of
      poor bowel preparation. No pathological findings were reported except for proctitis.

    • Contrast-enhanced CT colonography was performed for further investigation.
    • Histological analysis of the colonic surgical specimen revealed signet ring cell carcinoma.
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