Intraoperative endoscopic diagnosis of heterotopic gastric mucosa in the ileum causing recurrent acute intussusception.

Heterotopic gastric mucosa (HGM) may be found anywhere in the gastrointestinal tract, most often in a Meckel's diverticulum. Approximately 30 cases of HGM, located in the small bowel beyond the ligament of Treitz and not associated with a Meckel's diverticulum, have been reported. They were most often revealed by intestinal intussusception, occasionally by perforation of an intestinal ulcer or intestinal bleeding. We report a 4-year-old boy who had three attacks of acute intestinal intussusception over a 5-month period resulting in surgery. Both physical examination and barium examination of the small bowel and large intestine were found to be normal between attacks. Peroperative palpation of the small bowel was normal during the three laparotomies. During the third operation, he underwent an intraoperative endoscopy (IOE), which revealed a polypoid mass 2 cm in diameter and 0.5 cm in height, 40 cm proximal to the ileocaecal valve. Histologic examination showed HGM with fundic glands, and chief and parietal cells. This case emphasizes the interest of IOE, the main indications of which are the localization of unknown sites of gastrointestinal bleeding and the search for hamartomatous polyps of the Peutz-Jeghers syndrome for polypectomy and/or segmental resection.