Clinicopathological and Ileocolonoscopic Characteristics in Patients with Nodular Lymphoid Hyperplasia in the Terminal Ileum

Nodular lymphoid hyperplasia (NLH) in the small intestine is a rare benign lesion, characterized by the presence of multiple small nodules on the surface of the intestine. To define the clinicopathological and colonoscopic characteristics in Chinese patients with ileal NLH, we collected 65 patients with NLH in the terminal ileum from the endoscopic database in our hospital and clinical data from medical records. Histology and immunohistochemical staining were performed in the biopsies. The results demonstrated that the main symptoms included diarrhea (70.8%), abdominal pain (60.0%), hematochezia (46.2%), anemia (40.0%), and hypoproteinemia (21.5%). Enteroscopy revealed multiple, sporadic, granular or round-shaped nodules with diameters between 2 and 5 mm in the terminal ileum. The histology revealed the nodules consisted of mass lymphoid follicles in the lamina propria and submucosa of the terminal ileum. The follicles contained mitotically active germinal centers surrounded by well-defined lymphocyte mantles and composed predominantly of CD20(+) B cells. The diseases found in patients with NLH included chronic diarrhea, Crohn's disease, ischemic enterocolitis and allergic purpura. The level of hemoglobin in NLH patients who had diarrhea and hematochezia remarkably decreased as compared with those in patients with chronic diarrhea. In conclusion, ileocolonoscopic screening is an important step to find the NLH in terminal ileum patients with diarrhea, abdominal pain, hematochezia, and hypoproteinemia. Histological examination is necessary for the exclusion of malignancy and chronic inflammation.