Umbilical metastasis mimicking symptomatic hernia: Report of a case of Sister Mary Joseph Syndrome.

INTRODUCTION: An umbilical mass can be the first symptom of an intra-abdominal neoplasia, and this condition is also defined as Sister Mary Joseph Syndrome.

CASE PRESENTATION: An eighty-year-old patient presented with a complicated umbilical hernia. CT scan abdomen revealed a pancreatic neoplasm and an umbilical biopsy confirmed diagnosis of metastasis. Patient started chemotherapy by Oncologists.

CONCLUSIONS: In this paper the Authors suggest a histopathological evaluation of umbilical fat in all cases of newly emerging umbilical hernia in the adult population.