Abstract
Endoscopically, the villi of the small bowel in intestinal lymphangiectasia typically appear white and may be swollen [1, 2]. Less commonly, tiny white spots are visible in the mucosa. The whitish discoloration of the villi is caused by chylomicrons, which accumulate in and obstruct the dilated lymphatic capillaries. These changes can also be demonstrated histologically. Lymphangiectasia is characterized endoscopically as localized, patchy, or diffuse. Diffuse lymphangiectasia causes the mucosa to appear “snow covered” or “dusted with powdered sugar” at endoscopy.
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The work was first published in 2006 by Springer Medizin Verlag Heidelberg with the following title: Atlas of Video Capsule Endoscopy.
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Tóth, E., Wiedbrauck, F., Riemann, J.F. (2014). Intestinal Lymphangiectasia. In: Keuchel, M., Hagenmüller, F., Tajiri, H. (eds) Video Capsule Endoscopy. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44062-9_22
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44062-9_22
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