title: Malakoplakia of the small intestine as a cause of enterocutaneous fistula.
abstract: A case of malakoplakia of the small intestine presenting as an abscess of the anterior abdominal wall is described in a 28-year-old black Zimbabwean man. The patient developed an enterocutaneous fistula after incision and drainage of the abscess. Light and electronic microscopy revealed Michaelis-Gutmann bodies in some von Hansemann cells. He did well for eight months following laparotomy and resection of the fistula, but later died of a severe chest infection and septicaemia. It is suggested that malakoplakia in this case behaved like a locally aggressive lesion. Von Hansemann's histiocytes were sighted in the subcapsular sinus and germinal centres of nearby lymph nodes.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Surgery, Mpilo Central Hospital, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
authors.forename: G I
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: Muguti
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Gwavava
mesh_terms: D000009:Abdominal Muscles; D000038:Abscess / Q000601:surgery; D000328:Adult; D005402:Fistula / Q000209:etiology*; D006779:Hospitals, Public; D006801:Humans; D007410:Intestinal Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D007412:Intestinal Fistula / Q000209:etiology*; D007421:Intestine, Small; D008287:Malacoplakia / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D015030:Zimbabwe