Juvenile polyposis coli.

The term 'polyposis coli' applies to a condition of multiple polyps of the large intestine and is used synonymously with 'familial polyposis' and 'multiple adenomatosis'. The latter name emphasizes the fact that the individual polyps of this disease in no way differ from adenomas observed as solitary lesions. The object of this paper is to describe the histopathology, clinical features, and family histories of ii patients with polyposis in whom the polyps were not adenomas but had the structure of juvenile polyps. The latter are often confused with adenomas despite clear differences in pathology and behaviour. Juvenile polyps, like adenomas, are usually present as solitary lesions, but just as adenomatous polyps may be present in large numbers (adenomatous polyposis coli), so the large intestinal mucosa may be covered with multiple polyps of the juvenile variety, henceforward called 'juvenile polyposis coli'. Large intestinal polyposis has been described in children by Kerr (I948), Gordon, Hallenbeck, Dockerty, Kennedy, and Jackman(I957), and Hines, Hanley, Ray, and Rush (I959), but these authors, wrongly in our opinion, referred to the polyps as 'adenomas'. Castro (1955), MalIam and Thomson (I959), and Knox, Miller, Begg, and Zintel (I960) also reported cases of colonic polyposis in children, but did not describe any investigation of the family histories of their patients. A summary of the clinical features and pathology of our cases has been published elsewhere (McColl, Bussey, Veale, and Morson, I964).