Endoscopic appearance of esophageal xanthoma.

Background and study aims Esophageal xanthomas are considered to be rare, and their endoscopic diagnosis has not been fully elucidated. The aim of the present study was to determine the characteristics of the endoscopic appearance of esophageal xanthomas. Patients and methods This was a retrospective study of consecutive patients with histologically diagnosed esophageal xanthomas at a referral cancer center in Japan. The endoscopic appearance, by magnifying or image-enhanced endoscopy, and histological findings of esophageal xanthomas were investigated. Results Seven patients (six men and one woman) were enrolled. All of the patients had a solitary lesion, and the median size was 2 mm (range, 1 - 5 mm). Conventional white-light endoscopy showed the lesions as flat areas with yellowish spots in four cases and slightly elevated yellowish lesions in three cases. Magnifying endoscopy, performed in six patients, revealed the lesions as areas with aggregated minute yellowish spots with tortuous microvessels inside. Magnifying narrow-band imaging contrasted the yellowish spots and microvessels better than white-light endoscopy. In all lesions, histological examination showed that the yellowish spots corresponded to papillae filled with foam cells. The foam cells were strongly immunopositive for CD68, and in all lesions, CD34-positive intrapapillary capillaries surrounded the aggregated foam cells. The different morphologies of the flat and slightly elevated lesions corresponded to different densities of papillae filled with foam cells. Conclusions Magnifying endoscopy revealed minute yellowish spots with tortuous microvessels inside. These correspond well with histological findings and so may be useful in the diagnosis of esophageal xanthomas.

Sporadic Minute Pharyngeal Xanthomas Detected Incidentally During Esophagogastroduodenoscopy: A Case Series.

Pharyngeal xanthomas are considered rare, and no reports have described their endoscopic appearance under magnifying or image-enhanced endoscopy. We report three cases of asymptomatic sporadic pharyngeal xanthoma that were detected incidentally during routine esophagogastroduodenoscopy. All the patients were men and had a solitary lesion of about 1 mm in size. Two of the lesions were located in the oropharynx, while one was in the hypopharynx. Non-magnifying endoscopy showed yellowish lesions, and magnifying endoscopy showed an aggregation of minute yellowish nodules with tortuous microvessels on their surface. Histopathological examination revealed foam cells filling the intraepithelial papillae. The foam cells were strongly immunopositive for cluster of differentiation (CD) 68. Immunohistochemical staining for CD34 showed intrapapillary capillaries around the foam cells. This characteristic magnifying endoscopic appearance corresponded to the histopathological findings of pharyngeal xanthomas. The present cases reveal the relationship between the endoscopic appearance and histopathological findings of pharyngeal xanthomas.

A case of small intestinal ileus caused by migration of gastric bezoars, which was successfully treated by dissolution therapy with cola through an ileus tube.

A 60-year-old woman with a history of distal gastrectomy for gastric cancer presented with a chief complaint of epigastric pain. Duodenal ileus due to the migration of a gastric bezoar was diagnosed, and she was hospitalized. We performed endoscopic lithotripsy and injection of cola, but the bezoar migrated toward the anus. Her abdominal pain worsened the following day, and she was diagnosed with ileus induced by the gastric bezoar. After decompression with an ileus tube, 1000ml/day of cola was injected via the ileus tube, and the ileus resolved on the 5th day of therapy. Based on this experience, we believe that dissolution therapy with cola via an ileus tube is effective in the treatment of bezoar-induced small bowel ileus.