Solitary Rectal Ulcer Syndrome Mimicking Rectal Cancer

Solitary rectal ulcer syndrome (SRUS) is a rare benign and chronic rectal disease that has a wide spectrum of clinical presentations and variable endoscopic findings. It is usually diagnosed by histopathological examination through biopsy. A 68-year-old man was referred to our hospital with anal pain and difficulty on bowel movement. Colonoscopy showed a hemorrhagic ulcerated mass in the rectum. All radiologic findings such as abdominopelvic computed tomography (CT), positron emission tomography-CT and magnetic resonance imaging were suspicious of rectal cancer. Although the patient underwent repeat endoscopic biopsy and one surgical biopsy, the results were not indicative of malignancy. Two months after conservative management, clinical symptoms and colonoscopic findings were markedly improved. Thus, we report this rare case of a 68-year-old man who had a central ulcerated mass that mimicked rectal cancer on gross colonoscopic and radiologic findings, representing an SRUS variant.