FOUR CASES OF APPENDICEAL NEUROMA MIMICKING ACUTE APPENDICITIS

Herein we report four cases of appendiceal neuroma found during a short (one month) monitoring period in patients with severe pain in the lower right abdominal quadrant that underwent appendectomies. Tissue samples were routinely processed to obtain histological sections that were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and further with anti-S100 protein antibody. Characteristics of appendiceal neuroma were noted in these cases and they included the absence of mucosal and lymphoid tissue of the appendices, stroma with spindle-shaped cells that were positively stained with anti-S100 protein antibody. This clinical entity is important due to a possible misdiagnosis with acute appendicitis or exacerbation of inflammatory bowel disease and great attention should be paid during the clinical evaluation of similar symptoms. Key words: appendiceal neuroma, misdiagnosis, lumen obliteration, immunohistochemistry, S100 protein