Small bowel hemangioma diagnosed with laparoscopy: Report of two pediatric cases

From Severe Anemia to Intestinal Hemangiomatosis, a Bumpy Road-A Case Report and Literature Review

Gastrointestinal hemangiomas (GIH) are unusual vascular tumors found anywhere alongside the GI tract, the small bowel being the most common site. Diagnosis requires good clinical insight and modern imaging. This is a comprehensive review of the literature, starting from a new pediatric case diagnosed through exploratory laparotomy after complex imaging techniques failed. This research was conducted on published articles from the past 25 years. We identified seventeen original papers (two series of cases with three and two patients, respectively, and fifteen case reports). The female/male ratio was 1.5. The youngest patient was a 3-week-old boy, and the was oldest a 17-year-old girl. The most common localization was the jejunum (eight cases), followed by the ileum (four), colon (three), stomach (two), and rectum (one). Seven children had cavernous and four had capillary hemangiomas. Eight patients presented gastrointestinal bleeding, seven had refractory anemia, such as our index patient, three had recurrent abdominal pain, and two had bowel obstruction. Surgical assessment was successful in fifteen cases; three cases experienced great outcomes with oral propranolol, one child was treated successfully with sirolimus, and for one patient, endoscopic treatment was the best choice. The authors present the case of a female patient admitted to the Pediatrics Department of "Grigore Alexandrescu" Emergency Children's Hospital from 25 February to 28 March 2019 for severe anemia, refractory to oral iron treatment, and recurrent blood infusions. No clear bleeding cause had been found. Although very uncommon, intestinal hemangiomas can express puzzling, life-threatening symptoms. We should keep in mind this disorder in cases of unresponsive chronic anemia.

Cavernous Hemangioma: A Rare Cause of Massive Lower Gastrointestinal Bleeding

Due to their rarity, intestinal hemangiomas are not commonly considered as a cause of gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. This report describes a patient who presented with massive, recurrent lower GI bleeding secondary to a cavernous hemangioma of the small intestine. The source of GI bleeding could not initially be identified despite using numerous diagnostic modalities. The lesion was eventually revealed on diagnostic laparoscopy and small bowel resection was performed.

Unusual presentation of jejunal hemangioma on Tc-99m pertechnetate scan with single-photon emission computerized tomography-computed tomography

Small bowel hemangioma is a rare benign tumor in the pediatric population. The usual presentation of these tumors is melena, anemia, or hematochezia. Our case demonstrates the usefulness of Meckel's/Tc-99m pertechnetate scan with single-photon emission computerized tomography/computerized tomography in diagnosing a vascular lesion in the small bowel in a child presenting with melena, unresponsive to medical management. We present a case of incidentally detected jejunal hemangioma during Tc-99m pertechnetate scintigraphy which would help the nuclear medicine physician and surgeon, to be cognizant of this atypical presentation in their clinical practice.

Management of small bowel polyps: A literature review

Despite the small bowel comprising 90% of the mucosal surface area of the gastrointestinal tract, it is a rare site for neoplasia and only accounts for a little over 3% of the tumors that arise in the digestive tract. Benign small bowel lesions include lipomas, lymphangiomas, leiomyomas, neurofibromas, nodular lymphoid hyperplasia and adenomas, many of which are precursors to malignant lesions. Several polyposis syndromes are associated with small bowel polyps as well, including familial adenomatous polyposis syndrome, lynch syndrome, Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, Cowden syndrome and juvenile polyposis syndrome. Our aim was to review non-malignant small bowel polyps and discuss the prevalence, typical location, clinical presentation, diagnosis, endoscopic and histologic description and lastly management of each of these lesions.