Question:medium
A 5-year-old child presented with a history of blood in the stools. On examination, there was a polypoid mass in the rectum, a biopsy of which is shown below. The most probable diagnosis is:
A 5-year-old child presented with a history of blood in the stools. On examination, there was a polypoid mass in the rectum, a biopsy of which is shown below. The most probable diagnosis is:
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Age under 5 with rectal bleeding and cystic mucin-filled glands points to a hamartomatous polyp.
Updated On: Jun 23, 2026
- Villous adenoma
- Juvenile polyp
- Vascular malformation
- Serrated adenoma
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The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
Match the patient to the polyp: a preschool child with painless rectal bleeding from a smooth pedunculated rectal mass is the classic presentation of a juvenile polyp. The biopsy seals it, dilated cystic glands brimming with mucin and inflammatory cells set in an edematous, inflamed stroma.
Eliminate adult neoplasms. Villous adenoma and serrated adenoma are dysplastic, premalignant lesions seen in older adults, not five-year-olds, and they show neoplastic epithelium rather than retention cysts. A vascular malformation would show abnormal vessels, not mucin-filled glands. The hamartomatous, cystically dilated glandular architecture in a young child confirms a juvenile polyp.
Ref: Robbins Basic Pathology, 9th edition, pg 592.
Eliminate adult neoplasms. Villous adenoma and serrated adenoma are dysplastic, premalignant lesions seen in older adults, not five-year-olds, and they show neoplastic epithelium rather than retention cysts. A vascular malformation would show abnormal vessels, not mucin-filled glands. The hamartomatous, cystically dilated glandular architecture in a young child confirms a juvenile polyp.
Ref: Robbins Basic Pathology, 9th edition, pg 592.
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