Intestinal lymphangiectasia secondary to radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

This is an older article going back to 1987. I found it interesting however as it is a report of secondary intestinal lymphangiectasia from an unexpected souce, cancer treatment.

The article:

Intestinal lymphangiectasia secondary to radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Dig Dis Sci. 1987 Aug

Rao SS,
Dundas S,
Holdsworth CD.

We report a case of intestinal lymphangiectasia secondary to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The patient also had small bowel bacterial overgrowth and pancreatic insufficiency. Lymphatic ectasia as a histological feature has been described previously in association with postradiotherapy malabsorption, but radiation-induced lymphangiectasia producing clinical manifestations has hitherto not been reported. Replacement of dietary long-chain fats with medium-chain triglycerides, pancreatic enzyme supplements, and a short course of oxytetracycline, resulted in dramatic clinical improvement.

The possibility of intestinal lymphangiectasia should be borne in mind in patients with postradiotherapy malabsorption. A low serum albumin and lymphocyte count should draw attention to this possibility.

PMID: 3608736 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]