Complications of primary upper gastrointestinal lymphoma.

This study reports the gastrointestinal complications of primary upper gastrointestinal lymphoma (PUGIL). of thirty-three patients with PUGIL, twenty-one (64%) had complications. These included upper gastrointestinal bleeding, narrowing of the lumen, malabsorption and obstructive jaundice in 11, 9, 5 and 4 patients, respectively. Perforation and fistula formation were encountered in one patient each. THe patients with complications were treated with chemotherapy alone (13), in combination with surgery (6), or combination with surgery and radiotherapy (2). Only in one of four patients was the mortality due to gastrointestinal complication in the form of severe upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage. The remaining three patients died of refractory septicemia. In conclusion, there was a high rate of gastrointestinal complications in patients with PUGIL in our population. Mortality was commonly unrelated to these gastrointestinal complications.