Inflammatory Fibroid Polyp of the Ileum Which Could be Endoscopically Diagnosed —A Case Report and Review of the Literature—

: Inflammatory fibroid polyp (IFP) of the small intestine is a very rare disease. Our review of the literature revealed only 40 cases of small intestinal IFP were reported from July 1975 through August 1989 in Japan. It is extremely difficult to make a definite diagnosis of IFP prior to surgery; none of the cases reported were diagnosed preoperatively. We describe here the first case of small intestinal IFP in Japan whose diagnosis was strongly suspected from an endoscopic examination prior to surgery. A 62-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. A plain abdominal x-ray revealed the presence of an ileus. The subsequent contrast x-ray performed via a long intestinal decompression tube and colonoscopic observation found an ileo-ileal intussusception caused by a spherical mass (about 30 mm in diameter) in the ileum. When pushed with forceps, the tumor demonstrated a rubber-like hardness, suggesting the presence of an IFP. Surgery was performed to treat the intestinal obstruction, and the ileo-ileal intussusception was confirmed at a site 30 cm proximal to the ileocecal valve. At the leading point of the intussusception there was a semipedunculated tumor of 30X30X25 mm in size. The intestinal tumor was histopathologically diagnosed as IFP.