Villous polyposis of the ileum: report of a case

Villous adenomas occur only rarely in the small intestine and are often associated with malignant changes. Multiple villous adenomas of the small intestine are usually seen only in patients with familial polyposis coli. This is a report of a patient with multiple villous adenomas of the ileum associated with a carcinoma of the cecum which originated from a villous adenoma near the ileocecal valve. There was no evidence of other colonic polyps and no history of familial polyposis coli. It appears that polyposis of the small intestine is a rare clinical entity which cannot often be diagnosed due to difficulty in visualizing this area.