Gastric xanthalesmas: Report of five cases and review of the literature

Abstract

Xanthalesmas are incidental lesions that are rarely encountered during upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy. The most frequent location of xanthelasma in the upper GI tract is the stomach. The reported incidence of gastric xanthelasma is quite variable: It rangs from 0.018% to 0.8%. Upper GI xanthelasmas have a typical endoscopic appearance of yellow-white well-demarcated single or multiple nodules or plaques, with a size varying from 1 to 10 mm in diameter. Xanthelasmas are composed of large foamy cells containing lipids. In this report; five patients who attended hospital with nonspesific symptoms and xanthelasma-like lesions were incidentally found on their endoscopic examination.