Reversible Protein-Losing Enteropathy with Intestinal Lymphangiectasia Secondary to Chronic Constrictive Pericarditis

IT is now recognized that a considerable portion of the daily catabolism of serum albumin occurs in the gastrointestinal tract1 , 2 and that under some circumstances abnormally large amounts of protein may be lost in this way.3 When the magnitude of protein loss exceeds the patient's synthetic capacity, hypoproteinemia and depletion of body protein pools results. In many cases the gastrointestinal mucosa is disordered or damaged although sometimes no abnormality can be found. However, when hypoproteinemia can be shown to be caused by protein-losing gastroenteropathy,4 it is important to seek a specific cause in the hope of finding a situation that . . .