The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
2010 , Vol 52 , Num 4
Childhood non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma arising as a complication early in the course of Crohn’s disease
Departments of 1Pediatrics, 2Pediatric Surgery and 3Pathology, Kocaeli University Faculty of Medicine, Kocaeli,
Turkey
The neoplastic change in patients with Crohn’s disease is usually seen in
the form of adenocarcinoma. Primary gastrointestinal lymphoma complicating
chronic inflammatory bowel diseases is thought to be uncommon. This report
describes a case of gastrointestinal lymphoma in a 12-year-old boy with Crohn’s
disease of one-year duration that initially manifested as an abdominal mass.
Although Crohn’s disease may present as a palpable abdominal mass, changing
symptomatology should always warrant consideration of developing lymphoma
complicating inflammatory bowel diseases. It is our hope that this case report
gives the clinician an insight into the possibility of lymphoma development,
even in the early course of the disease, and stresses the importance of
obtaining a reliable histological diagnosis whenever possible.
Keywords :
Crohn’s disease, gastrointestinal lymphoma, childhood.