Gastrointestinal Malacoplakia in Children

Abstract

Four children, whose ages ranged from 1 to 13 years, with malacoplakia of the gastrointestinal tract were treated at King Faisal Specialist Hospital between 1979 and 1983. All patients had either a preceding or a coexisting chronic illness. In one patient, malacoplakia was an incidental finding, while the remaining three patients presented with bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain, recurrent fever, and severe malnutrition. Colonoscopy in two patients revealed markedly inflamed and friable mucosa with focal ulceration alternating with patches of normal mucosa and pseudopolyposis. They were treated with antibiotics and cholinergic agonists. Three patients responded favorably, while one patient continued to have extensive active disease. Although the response to therapy is unpredictable, patients may respond if the treatment is continued on a long-term basis.

Presacral malakoplakia presenting as foot drop: a case report

“…While some advocate resection where feasible [6], our patient's good response to medical management suggests surgery is not always necessary. Successful medical management of malakoplakia has also been reported by others [20][21][22][23][24][25]. However, our patient's apparent relapse and subsequent good response to a second course of therapy suggests cure was not initially achieved.…”

Ulcerative Colitis in Saudi Children

“…This chronic disease has been reported in Saudi children more frequently than in any other population. 8,9 The clinical presentation and radiologic and sometimes endoscopic features are similar to those of ulcerative colitis, but the histopathologic features leading to a diagnosis of malacoplakia are the presence of histiocytic infiltrate and Michaelis-Gutmann bodies in the colonic mucosa. In our patient there were no histopathologic signs of malacoplakia.…”

Digestive Malacoplakia in Children: Case Report

“…The mean age at diagnosis was around the fifth decade of age [2]. Malacoplakia is rare in children and usually involves the gastrointestinal tract, and is associated with significant additional systemic disease [8]. A female-to-male preponderance of 4 : 1 is reported when the disease affects genitourinary system [2, 7].…”