Gastric wall abscess presenting as thoracic pain: rare presentation of an old disease

Joaquin Valle Alonso; Juan Jose de la Fuente Carillo; Manuel Angel Gutierrez Solis; Francisco Javier Vara Morate; Daniel JosÃ© LÃ³pez Ruiz

Authors Joaquin Valle Alonso, Juan Jose de la Fuente Carillo, Manuel Angel Gutierrez Solis, Francisco Javier Vara Morate, Daniel JosÃ© LÃ³pez Ruiz.

Abstract

Acute phlegmonous gastritis, a suppurative infection of the gastric wall, has a high mortality rate. This disease remains a mystery to most clinicians. The rarity of this disease and its nonspecific presentation make early diagnosis difficult, especially in the emergency department. We describe a case of acute phlegmonous gastritis presenting as gastric wall abscess in a 55-year-old woman who visited the emergency department, illustrating the severity of this disease, the difficulty in its diagnosis and its unusual presentation.

Keywords Suppurative gastritis, gastric abscess, CT scan