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Colorectal polyps with extensive absorptive enterocyte differentiation: histologically distinct variant of
1Department of Pathology, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, Ill 60611, USA.
Background:
The histologic classification of colorectal polyps is well established. However, practicing pathologists may still occasionally encounter colorectal polyps that are difficult to classify. We studied 6 colorectal polyps that showed uncommon histologic features that have not been described in the English language literature.
Materials And Methods:
The polyps were studied using standard hematoxylin-eosin stain, mucin histochemistry, and electron microscopy.
Results:
The 6 polyps we studied showed extensive papillary and villous structures with alternating villi and crypts. The villi were lined by well-differentiated absorptive cells, whereas the crypts were lined by immature glandular cells, thus mimicking the histology of the small intestinal mucosa.
Conclusions:
These polyps appear to represent a variant of the hyperplastic polyp, in as much as cellular maturation (immature glandular cells differentiate into the mature surface absorptive cells) is the essential feature distinguishing hyperplastic polyps from adenomas.