Comparative study of intestinal tuberculosis and primary small intestinal lymphoma

AIM:To characterize the clinical,radiological,endoscopic and pathological features of intestinal tuberculosis(ITB)and primary small intestinal lymphoma(PSIL).METHODS:This was a retrospective study from February 2005 to October 2012 of patients with a diagnosis of ITB(n=41)or PSIL(n=37).All patients with ITB or PSIL underwent computed tomography(CT)and pathological examination.Thirty-five patients with ITB and 32 patients with PSIL underwent endoscopy.These patients were followed for a further 18 mo to ascertain that the diagnosis had not changed.Clinical,endoscopic,CT and pathological features were compared between ITB and PSIL patients.RESULTS:Night sweating,fever,pulmonary TB and ascites were discovered significantly more often in ITB than in PSIL patients(P<0.05),however,abdominal mass,hematochezia and intestinal perforation were found significantly more frequently in PSIL than in ITB patients(P<0.05).Ring-like and rodent-like ulcers occurred significantly more often in ITB than in PSIL patients(P<0.05),however,enterorrhagia and raised lesions were significantly more frequent in PSIL than in ITB patients(P<0.05).The rate of granuloma was significantly higher in ITB than in PSIL patients(87.8%vs 13.5%,χ2=43.050,P<0.05),and the incidence of confluent granulomas with caseous necrosis was significantly higher in ITB than in PSIL patients(47.2%vs0.0%,χ2=4.034,P<0.05).Multi-segmental lesions,mural stratification,mural gas sign,and intestinal stricture were more frequent in ITB than in PSIL patients(P<0.05),however,a single-layer thickening of bowel wall,single segmental lesions,and intussusception were more common in PSIL than in ITB patients(P<0.05).Necrotic lymph nodes,comb sign and inflammatory mass were more frequent in ITB than in PSIL patients(P<0.05).The bowel wall enhancement in ITB patients was greater than that in PSIL patients(P<0.05),while the thickening and lymph node enlargement in PSIL patients were higher than those in ITB patients(P<0.05).CONCLUSION:Combined evaluation of clinical,radiological,endoscopic and pathological features is the key to differentiation between ITB and PSIL.