Solitary adenomas in juvenile patients

Ten patients under 20 years of age who had solitary adenomas of the colon or rectum, selected for study from case records of the period 1959--1979, have been followed for 1--20 years (average, 10 years). Though no malignancies have been identified so far, this series points out that adenomas do exist in pediatric patients. Hence, one should not assume that every polyp in patients under the age of 20 is automatically a juvenile polyp and, therefore, benign. Any patient with a solitary adenoma, or who has multiple polyps, whether adenomas or juvenile polyps, should be followed at appropriate intervals with sigmoidoscopy, x-ray, and, possibly, colonoscopy.