Abstract
A 27-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of recurrent rectal bleeding since her birth. She was diagnosed as having diffuse cavernous hemangioma of rectum by using plain abdominal X-ray, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and colonoscopy. In addition, we also employed fat-suppression MRI, resulting in a usefulness for the differential diagnosis because it could figure out the structure of diffuse cavernous hemangioma of the rectum. She had been followed up for about 10 years, and the surgical resection of the rectum was performed in April, 2006 because of uncontrollable anemia. Macroscopically, the perirectal fat was much thicker than usual, and the cavernous hemangioma extended from the rectosigmoid colon to the rectum below the peritoneal reflection. The serosal surface of the perirectum was covered with hemangiomatous tissues and phleboliths, and the mucosal surface of the rectum was congestive and extremely edematous. Histological examination showed diffuse cavernous hemangiomas in association with calcification extending from the mucosal layer to the subserosal layer. No sign of recurrence has been observed during the follow-up period after operation.
