Malignancy and the Small-intestinal Mucosa.

The observations presented here suggest that malignancy anywhere in the body may be accompanied by a secondary change in the small-intestinal mucosa, including the flattened appearance that is usually seen in idiopathic steatorrhoea. The reverse of this association, that idiopathic steatorrhoea may be complicated by a reticulosis, has been reported by Gough et al. (1962). They described four cases and collected 16 other reports from the literature where the timing of events supported the view that the steatorrhoea was primary and the reticulosis secondary.