[Digestive malacoplakia].

INTRODUCTION

Malacoplakia, a chronic granulomatous disease, rarely involves the digestive tube and, when it does, takes on a pseudotumoral aspect.

OBSERVATION

A 37 year-old man was hospitalized for chronic diarrhea that had progressed over 15 years. He exhibited an edematous-ascitic syndrome and bilateral pleurisy together with, biologically, a malabsorption syndrome. The endoscopic examinations (fibroscopy and colonoscopy) revealed polypoid tumor-like formations. An image of tumoral stenosis of the sigmoid-colic junction was revealed on barite lavage. Histological examination of the surgical sample (wide left colectomy of one third of the transverse) was suggestive of malacoplakia (histiocytes with characteristic Michaelis-Gutmann bodies).

DISCUSSION

Malacoplakia is an inflammatory disease predominantly affecting the urogenital tract. Other organs can be involved. Its clinical symptomatology is highly disparate. The interest of this disease is in its pathogenesis, on which, in fact, its treatment is based.