Case Report
Copyright ©2010 Baishideng. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. May 28, 2010; 16(20): 2566-2570
Published online May 28, 2010. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v16.i20.2566
Intestinal amyloidosis: Two cases with different patterns of clinical and imaging presentation
Pier Paolo Mainenti, Sabrina Segreto, Marcello Mancini, Antonio Rispo, Immacolata Cozzolino, Stefania Masone, Ciro Roberto Rinaldi, Gerardo Nardone, Marco Salvatore
Pier Paolo Mainenti, Marcello Mancini, IBB CNR, Naples, Via Pansini 5, 80131, Naples, Italy
Sabrina Segreto, Marcello Mancini, Marco Salvatore, Department of Biomorphological and Functional Sciences, Section of Radiology, University of Naples “Federico II”, Via Pansini 5, 80131, Naples, Italy
Antonio Rispo, Gerardo Nardone, Department of Gastroenterology, University of Naples “Federico II”, Via Pansini 5, 80131, Naples, Italy
Immacolata Cozzolino, Department of Biomorphological and Functional Sciences, Section of Pathology, University of Naples “Federico II”, Via Pansini 5, 80131, Naples, Italy
Stefania Masone, Department of General Surgery, Geriatry and Endoscopy, University of Naples “Federico II”, Via Pansini 5, 80131, Naples, Italy
Ciro Roberto Rinaldi, Department of Biotechnology, Haematology Unit, University of Naples “Federico II”, Via Pansini 5, 80131, Naples, Italy
Author contributions: Mainenti PP and Segreto S wrote the paper; Mancini M, Rispo A, Cozzolino I, Masone S and Rinaldi CR performed the research; Nardone G and Salvatore M revised the manuscript.
Correspondence to: Dr. Pier Paolo Mainenti, IBB CNR, Naples, Via Pansini 5, 80131, Naples, Italy. pierpamainenti@hotmail.com
Telephone: +39-81-7613060 Fax: +39-81-7616013
Received: February 16, 2010
Revised: March 25, 2010
Accepted: April 1, 2010
Published online: May 28, 2010
Abstract

The involvement of the small bowel in systemic forms of amyloidosis may be diffuse or very rarely focal. Some cases of focal amyloidomas of the duodenum and jejunum without extraintestinal manifestations have been reported. The focal amyloidomas consisted of extensive amyloid infiltration of the entire intestinal wall thickness. Radiological barium studies, ultrasound and computed tomography (CT) patterns of diffuse small bowel amyloidosis have been described: the signs are non-specific and may include small-bowel dilatation, symmetric bowel wall thickening, mesenteric infiltration, and mesenteric adenopathy. No data are available about the positron emission tomography (PET)/CT and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) patterns of intestinal amyloidosis. We report two cases of small bowel amyloidosis: the former characterized by focal deposition of amyloid proteins exclusively within blood vessel walls of the terminal ileum, the latter characterized by diffuse intestinal involvement observed on MRI and PET/CT studies.

Keywords: Amyloidosis; Small bowel; Positron emission tomography/computed tomography; Magnetic resonance imaging; Computed tomography