Fecal material

Fecal material, also fecal matter, is poo. It is seen in gastrointestinal pathology.

Fecal material
Diagnosis in short
LM	plant matter - has cell walls, meat - skeletal muscle without nuclei, no colorectal mucosa, microorganisms (bacilli, cocci)
LM DDx	necrosis
Site	cecum, colon, rectum
Clinical history	poor bowel preparation
Clin. DDx	gastrointestinal polyp

General

• Common.
• Associated with poor bowel preparation.
• Endoscopists go after anything that is polypoid and that may be nothing more than poo.

Microscopic

Features:

• Plant material:
  • Yellow staining chicken wire-like material - may be linear.
    • Thick cell walls often without cytoplasm and usually without a nucleus.
• Meat:
  • Eosinophilic honeycomb-like material without nuclei and without inflammation.
    • Essentially ischemic skeletal muscle without inflammation.
• +/-Microorganisms.
• +/-Inflammatory cells.

DDx:

• Necrosis.
  • Colorectal adenocarcinoma.

Sign out

TRANSVERSE COLON, BIOPSY:
- FECAL MATERIAL.
- NO DEFINITE COLONIC MUCOSA IDENTIFIED.

Rectum

RECTUM, BIOPSY:
- FECAL MATERIAL.
- NO DEFINITE RECTAL MUCOSA IDENTIFIED.

See also

• Gastrointestinal tract polyps.
• Gastrointestinal pathology.