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Pathology of the Gastrointestinal Tract pp 481–483Cite as

Malabsorption Syndrome

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Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Pathology ((EP))

Synonyms

Insufficient absorption; Maldigestion

Definition

Malabsorption syndrome refers to the clinical picture comprising diarrhea, steatorrhea, malnutrition, weight loss, abdominal pain, and anemia due to maldigestion, mucosal/mural problems, or infections. The small intestine is the part of the gastrointestinal tract where much of the absorption takes place due to high surface area provided by the villous and microvillous architecture and numerous digestive enzymes on its surface actively secreted to optimize uptake of dietary substances. Malabsorption develops when malfunction in any of these components leads to failure of absorption of nutrients resulting from a wide variety of causes which can be classified into three groups: (i) maldigestion which is related to mixing and digestive mediators; (ii) mucosal or mural causes including celiac disease, tropical sprue, autoimmune enteropathy, AIDS enteropathy, and systemic sclerosis; and (iii) microbial causes including bacterial...

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References and Further Reading

  • Babbin, B. A., Crawford, K., & Sitaraman, S. V. (2006). Malabsorption work-up: Utility of small bowel biopsy. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 4, 1193–1198.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fenoglio-Preiser, C. M., Noffsinger, A. E., Stemmermann, G. N., et al. (2008). The nonneoplastic small intestine. In C. M. Fenoglio Preiser (Ed.), Gastrointestinal pathology. An atlas and text (3rd ed., pp. 275–470). Philadelphia: Walters Kluwer-Lippincott-Williams and Wilkins.

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  • Murray, J. A., & Rubio-Tapia, A. (2012). Diarrhoea due to small bowel diseases. Best Practice & Research. Clinical Gastroenterology, 26, 581–600.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Owens, S. R., & Greenson, J. K. (2007). The pathology of malabsorption: Current concepts. Histopathology, 50, 64–82.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, A. B. R., Keelan, M., Thiesen, A., Clandinin, M. T., Ropeleski, M., & Wild, G. E. (2001). Small bowel review: Disease of the small intestine. Digestive Diseases and Sciences, 46, 2555–2566.

    Article  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Ankara University Medical School, 06100, Sihhiye, Ankara, Turkey

    Arzu Ensari

Authors
  1. Arzu Ensari
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Arzu Ensari .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine of Porto University, Centro Hospitalar São João and Ipatimup/i3S, Porto, Portugal

    Fátima Carneiro

  2. Serviço de Anatomia Patológica, Instituto Português de Oncologia de Lisboa de Francisco Gentil, Lisbon, Portugal

    Paula Chaves

  3. Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade da Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal

    Paula Chaves

  4. Department of Pathology, Ankara University Medical School, Sihhiye, Ankara, Turkey

    Arzu Ensari

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Ensari, A. (2017). Malabsorption Syndrome. In: Carneiro, F., Chaves, P., Ensari, A. (eds) Pathology of the Gastrointestinal Tract. Encyclopedia of Pathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40560-5_1506

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40560-5_1506

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-40559-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-40560-5

  • eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine

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