Lipolymph nodes of the mesentery.

Although lipolymph nodes have previously involved only pelvic or retroperitoneal lymph nodes, two patients are presented with lipolymph nodes involving the intestinal mesentery. The definitive diagnoses were made by exploratory laparotomy and multiple biopsies of intrabdominal lymph nodes. Both patients with lipolymph nodes are obese, middle-aged, and female, which is the typical clinical presentation. The microscopic picture is distinctive. The lymph nodes are entirely replaced by adipose tissue and have a thin outer rim of nodal tissue. The patient with a diagnosis of lipolymph nodes of the mesentery or the pelvis and retroperitoneum should receive conservative surgical treatment. Since the disease appears to have a benign course, surgical extirpation of abnormal lymph nodes is not needed or warranted.