[The brown bowel syndrome. A case report]

We present a patient with celiac sprue in whom intestinal lymphoma was suspected. At laparotomy, a brown discolouration of small bowel loops was observed, and a transmural biopsy confirmed a brown bowel syndrome, an entity that is found in long-standing malabsorption conditions. We believe that the intestinal disorder caused by deposition of lipofuscin in the bowel non-striated muscle may cause radiologic changes similar to those seen in intestinal lymphoma.