EBV-associated lymphoproliferative disorder involving the gastrointestinal tract which mimic IBD in immunocompetent patients: case reports and literature review.

Background: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated lymphoproliferative diseases (LPD) with digestive tract involvement in immunocompetent patients is rather rare. Since the symptoms of EBV-associated LPD involving the gastrointestinal tract in immunocompetent patients are similar to those of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), most patients are initially misdiagnosed.

Methods: In this paper, we present two cases of EBV-associated T cell LPD involving the colon in immunocompetent patients and review the relevant literature.

Conclusions: EBV serological testing may help in detecting this disease, and our findings suggest that histopathological evidence of EBV, such as the Epstein-Barr encoding region, is very important to establish the diagnosis.