Villous atrophy in a small bowel biopsy may range from mild to severe.
Histologic parameters:
(1) villous appearance
(2) surface epithelium
(3) inflammation
|
Villous Appearance |
Surface Epithelium |
Inflammation |
Villous Atrophy |
|
all or almost all long and slender |
normal |
not increased |
absent (none) |
|
some normal, some broad, short or fused |
abnormal with loss of polarity |
increased acute and chronic in lamina propria; some intra- epithelial lymphocytes |
mild |
|
most broad and short |
cuboidal |
intraepithelial lymphocytes; increased mononuclear cells |
moderate |
|
absent or almost absent |
NA |
marked mononuclear cell infiltrate |
severe |
where:
• The normal villous height is >= 3 times the length of the crypt.
Crypt atrophy may be accompanied by crypt hyperplasia or hypoplasia.
Differential diagnosis:
(1) poor sampling
(2) abnormal orientation to a villous, such as tangential sectioning
While villous atrophy is associated with celiac disease, other diseases (malnutrition, chemotherapy, radiation, endocrine disorders, etc) can also result in the change.
Specialty: Gastroenterology, Nutrition
ICD-10: ,
