Single filiform polyp in asymptomatic healthy Korean without history of inflammatory bowel disease.

single filiform polyp discovered during routine screening in an individual without symptoms or a history of colonic disease. A 47−year−old man was transferred to our outpatient department for treatment of a single colon polyp which had been inci− dentally found on medical examination. Other results including upper endoscopy and laboratory test except colonoscopy were normal. The patient was asympto− matic and in good health. He had no sig− nificant history of intestinal complaint or gastrointestinal bleeding. We carried out a routine colonoscopic examination. Co− lonoscopy demonstrated a long, thin and finger−like polyp in the transverse colon (l" Fig. 1a, b). We carried out an endo− scopic polypectomy by snare. Histologi− cally, the polyp was filiform and covered by normal mucosa (l" Fig. 2a, b). Obser− vation has continued to date, but no gas− trointestinal symptoms or signs have been observed. Filiform polyposis is a rare condition of postinflammatory polyposis as a benign, nonspecific sequela characterized by multiple, slender, arborizing, vermiform projections of submucosa covered by mu− cosa on all sides. Filiform polyps are often long and thin (2±5 cm in length and 0.5 cm in diameter), and almost always multiple. Filiform polyposis has been rarely reported in patients without pre− vious colonic disease. A review of the lit− erature revealed only six cases of filiform polyposis without evidence and history of inflammatory bowel disease [1, 2]. All of the patients experienced diarrhea or gas− trointestinal bleeding. A single filiform polyp was shown in only two patients with severe hemorrhage [1,2]. To our knowledge, this is the first report of filiform polyposis, which was fortu− nately found in an asymptomatic adult without evidence of inflammatory bowel disease on health screening. Our case is the first that shows no symptoms and a single filiform polyp. It is difficult to ex− plain why a filiform polyp is born in an asymptomatic adult. Single filiform polyp in asymptomatic healthy Korean without history of inflammatory bowel disease