Combined leiomyomatosis of the small intestine and colon

Abstract

We report a case of leiomyomatosis that involved the small intestine and colon. On gross examination, the bowel wall was irregularly thickened at various levels. Histologically, the lesions were characterized by multifocal, diffuse tumor masses that were present in the muscular layers. These masses consisted of proliferating smooth-muscle cells that often surrounded prominent blood vessels. Cytologic atypia was not observed, and the mitotic count was low, illustrating the benign nature of the tumors. Findings from immunohistochemical analysis of the lesions were essentially negative; vimentin, cytokeratin, actin, desmin, and S100 stains showed no reactivity in the tumor cells, despite positive internal controls. By reviewing the literature, we found several reports on related lesions that occurred in the gastrointestinal tract; diffuse leiomyomatosis of the esophagus and the colon have been reported. We did not find any report on the small intestinal variant of the disease; therefore, it seemed useful to term this new localization as leiomyomatosis of the small intestine and colon.