title: Immunoproliferative small-intestinal disease with lymphoma--diagnostic difficulties and pitfalls. Case reports.
abstract: Immunoproliferative small-intestinal disease and related diffuse intestinal lymphoma is a debilitating illness prevalent in South Africa. Case reports are presented to illustrate that the early course may be deceptively prolonged and 'benign'; diarrhoea is not invariable, and an initial clinical response to antibiotics may occur. The combination of villous atrophy and a predominantly plasma cell infiltration of the lamina propria in jejunal biopsy specimens may indicate lymphoma in adjacent bowel or regional lymph nodes.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007160:Immunoproliferative Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D007410:Intestinal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D007414:Intestinal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications; D007421:Intestine, Small; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male