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Case Report
Incidental rectal tonsil found on routine colonoscopy: A case report
1 DO, Department of Internal Medicine, Cooper University Hospital, Camden, NJ, USA
2 MD, Division of Gastroenterology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Address correspondence to:
Sharmila Bisaria
Department of Internal Medicine, Cooper University Hospital, Camden, New Jersey,
USA
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Article ID: 100013G01SB2021
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Bisaria S, Patel D, Morgenstern R. Incidental rectal tonsil found on routine colonoscopy: A case report. Edorium J Gastroenterol 2021;8:100013G01SB2021.ABSTRACT
Introduction: Rectal tonsils, or benign lymphoid polyps are hyper-proliferative lymphoid tissue found in the intestine in the submucosa and lamina propria. Tonsils are follicles with germinal centers and surrounding mantle zone. Rectal tonsils are found incidentally on colonoscopy in the middle-aged due to age for routine colonoscopies. Rectal tonsils are mistaken for lymphoma and carcinoid tumors due to similar appearances. Identification through immunohistochemical workup prevents unnecessary workup for the concerning etiologies.
Case Report: A healthy 56-year-old female presented for a screening colonoscopy. A 9 mm sessile polyp was found in the rectum and removed. Pathology diagnosed rectal tonsil.
Conclusion: Due to similarity in appearance, they are mistaken for carcinoid tumors or lymphoma. They are distinguished from malignancy through immunohistochemical workup. It is imperative that rectal tonsils be removed for proper immunohistochemical staining to avoid unnecessary diagnostic and therapeutic workup for malignancy. There is no treatment for rectal tonsils. Due to concern for malignancy, they are removed, and so there is no discussion regarding outcomes of not removing a tonsil, or surveillance.
Keywords: Rectal polypoid lesions, Rectal polyp, Rectal tonsil
SUPPORTING INFORMATION
Acknowledgement
We would like to thank Hahnemann University Hospital for providing us with the opportunity to discover this case.
Author ContributionsSharmila Bisaria - Interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Dhruvan Patel - Acquisition of data, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Ricardo Morgenstern - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Guarantor of SubmissionThe corresponding author is the guarantor of submission.
Source of SupportNone
Consent StatementWritten informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this article.
Data AvailabilityAll relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.
Conflict of InterestAuthors declare no conflict of interest.
Copyright© 2024 Sharmila Bisaria et al. This article is distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original author(s) and original publisher are properly credited. Please see the copyright policy on the journal website for more information.
