A CASE OF POLYPOID CAVERNOUS HEMANGIOMA OF THE SIGMOID COLON EXCISED BY COLONOSCOPIC POLYPECTOMY

A 28-year-old Japanese man was admitted to our institute because of sh arp anal pain and a mass that prolapsed from the anus after defecation . After spinal anesthesia for emergency operation, the mass spontaneou sly withdrew into the anus and the pain disappeared. Surgery was postp oned. Barium enema and colonoscopy revealed a pedunculated polyp in th e sigmoid colon, which was removed by snare polypectomy with electroca utery. The resected polyp was granular and reddish, and measured 33 x 22 x 14 mm. Histological examination of the polyp revealed a cavernous hemangioma. Hemangioma of the colon is rare; only 52 cases have been reported in Japan. Of these patients, eight underwent endoscopic polyp ectomy. The present lesion is the largest thus treated that has been d ocumented. Endoscopic polypectomy seems to be a safe and preferable pr ocedure for the diagnosis and treatment of small, solitary polypoid he mangiomas of the colon.