Hemangioma and vascular malformation of small intestine: a clinicopathologic analysis of fifty-one cases

Abstract

To investigate the clinicopathologic features of small intestinal hemangioma and vascular malformation. A retrospective analysis was performed on 51 cases of hemangioma and vascular malformation involving the duodenum, jejunum and ileum in the past 30 years. The patient's age ranged from 1.4 to 75.0 years, with an average/median age of 40 years for the 51 cases. The ratio of male and female was almost equal. In most cases, the lesions were located in the ileum (18 cases) and jejunum (16 cases) accounting for 66.7%. The predominant symptoms and signs were either intestinal hemorrhage or obstruction. Grossly, the lesions appeared as polyp-like, ulcerative, varices, solitary mass, diffuse infiltration or in an occult status. Histologically, arteriovenous hemangioma also called arteriovenous malformation was more common seen accounting for 86.3%. Other less common vascular lesions included cavernous hemangioma, capillary hemangioma, Rendu-Osler-Weber syndrome and Dieulafoy disease. Histologic classification and denomination for hemangioma and vascular malformation of small intestine are still controversial. It is very important to correlate clinical manifestations with arteriography findings in histologic diagnosis of hemanigoma and vascular malformation of the small intestine.