Giant mesenteric lymphangioma: An immunohistochemical diagnosis

Abstract

The mesenteric cysts are rare lesions. In the pathologic sense these cysts include cystic mesotheliomas and cystic lymphangiomas. Differentiation of these cysts by standard histological technique can be sometimes difficult, and additional investigations are required. We report a case of a 14-year-old girl with a giant cystic lymphangioma of the mesentery diagnosed by immunohistochemistry. The endothelial nature of the cyst lining cells was established by immunopositivity for von Willebrand factor. It is important to define the exact nature of mesenteric cysts according to their different biological properties.