Intestinal lymphangiectasia in children: a study of upper gastrointestinal endoscopic biopsies

From 1980-1986 intestinal mucosal lymphangiectasia was diagnosed histologically in eight patients (6 weeks to 16 years; four males/four females; seven white). The presenting features were diarrhea (six/eight), vomiting (four/eight), and growth deficit (seven/eight). Additional conditions in these patients included asthma, urinary tract infection, esophageal atresia, hydrops fetalis, inflammatory bowel disease, malabsorption syndrome, and thymic hypoplasia. Hypoalbuminemia and edema (four/eight) were more prominent in those patients under 5 years of age. Two had systemic lymphangiectasia and lymphopenia. The patients responded variably to hyperalimentation and dietary supplements, depending on the extent of their lymphangiectasia and the age at onset of symptoms. Dilated lymphatics were seen in the small intestinal mucosa under the surface epithelium. Lesions were often focal, requiring several biopsies or serial sections for detection. Other common findings were mild to moderate lymphoplasmacytic inflammation and mild to moderate villous injury with blunting and edema. Mild inflammation without lymphangiectasia was also present in esophageal, gastric, or colonic biopsies. Diagnosis should be made on the basis of endoscopic findings or in small-intestinal inflammatory conditions even in the absence of a classic clinical picture. Histologic confirmation may require more than one serially sectioned biopsy. This study confirms the diversity of disorders that may be associated with intestinal lymphangiectasia and shows that the disease in infants is more severe and generalized.