Lymphangioma in the small intestine: Report of a case and review of the Japanese literature

Abstract

We report herein a rare case of a 53 year old man with a benign lymphangioma of the small intestine. He presented with a complete obstruction of the small intestine and radiological examination revealed a small intestinal tumor. A long intestinal tube was passed, the intestinograms from which detected a submucosal tumor of the small intestine. Partial resection of the small intestine was thus performed and the tumor was found to be located mainly in the submucosa. The final pathological diagnosis was made as cavernous lymphangioma. This case is presented with a description of the roentgen appearance, followed by a review of the Japanese literature.

Lymphangioma of the jejunum and mesentery presenting with acute abdomen in an adult

“…[7][8][9] Lymphangiomas are usually found during childhood and adult cases are rare. Hanagiri et al 3 have described 32 adult cases of lymphangiomas of the small intestine. Chin et al 4 have collected 44 cases of lymphangiomas of the mesentery a b c in adults.…”

“…Lymphangiomas are most commonly found in the neck, whereas intraabdominal lymphangiomas are very rare benign tumors. [1][2][3][4] The incidence of these tumors has been estimated to range from 1 per 27000 to 1 per 100 000 hospital admissions. [7][8][9] Lymphangiomas are usually found during childhood and adult cases are rare.…”

“…[1][2][3][4] The most common clinical feature of intra-abdominal lymphangioma is a palpable, soft, cystic mass in the abdomen, which usually grows slowly. Some patients may be asymptomatic.…”

Jejuno-jejunal intussusception secondary to submucosal lymphangioma in a child

“…Jejunal tumors may present with melena [10][11][12], or colicky abdominal pain [13], while ileal tumors may present with intussusception or ileus [2][3][4]. Hanagiri et al [7] reported 34 cases of small intestine lymphangioma (including children) with 5 (14.7%) developing intussusception. Interestingly, all five were adults with ileal lymphangiomas.…”

“…Generally, 1.4-2.4% [6,7] of small intestinal tumors are lymphangiomas. In children, up to 6% of small intestinal tumors are lymphangiomas [8], but most remain asymptomatic and are detected incidentally [5,9].…”