Papillary (Villous) Adenomas

Abstract

Papillary villous adenoma has been referred to in the literature by such names as papilloma, villous papilloma, villous tumor, polyp, columnar or mucous polyp, villoma, and adenoma malignum. The term "villous" tumor originated with Holmes,¹ an English pathologist, in 1860, and means shaggy, or covered with small projections. The literature is voluminous with regard to villous or papillary adenoma of the colon and rectum.^2-21 This is undoubtedly true because of the unusual characteristics of the tumor and the frequent serious sequelae which may follow. For many years, unexplained deaths have occurred in patients with villous adenoma of the bowel. McKittrick and Wheelock,²² in 1954, reported that an associated electrolyte imbalance was the reasonable explanation for some of these deaths. Villous tumors account for 1%-3% of neoplasms of the colon and rectum, according to Mayfield and Milnor²³; for 1.4% as reported by Sunderland and Binkley²⁴; and