'Bleeding Dilemma': The Story of a Periampullary Mass

Abstract

Periampullary malignancies arise in the vicinity of the ampulla of Vater, a common passage for biliary and pancreatic secretions. Determining the anatomical origin of these tumors represents a diagnostic challenge. This is especially true for large tumors due to the transitional nature of this region, proximity to different structures, anatomical variations, and overlapping features among constituting structures. This determination has significant prognostic and therapeutic implications. Among them, primary ampullary adenocarcinoma is a rare malignancy that has the best overall prognosis with high rates of potentially curative resection and possible survival even in advanced disease. Due to its rarity, it is also a vague territory with no definitive guidelines regarding management and surveillance currently available. Acute gastrointestinal hemorrhage is a rare presentation of ampullary carcinoma that occurs secondary to tumor ulceration. We report an elderly male with a previously known large, initially asymptomatic periampullary mass who came for evaluation of melena and was noted to be hypotensive secondary to acute blood loss from the large tumor, later determined to be adenocarcinoma of the ampulla of Vater.