PNEUMATOSIS INTESTINALIS

Abstract

Thirteen cases of pneumatosis intestinalis are reported, 12 of them in infants between 12 days and 12 months of age, one in a boy of 6 years. Review of these cases and of 32 reported cases falling within the pediatric age range discloses that the disease occurs most frequently in patients whose general condition is poor, that it is very often associated with congenital or acquired disease of the intestine, and that respiratory disease, usually infectious, frequently co-exists. The presence of pneumatosis in pediatric patients has so far been discovered only at autopsy, but clinical diagnosis, with the aid of the typical roentgenologic findings, is feasible and may be accomplished when the disease is more widely known.

The clinical picture and roentgenographic findings in adults are reviewed. The most acceptable theories concerning the pathogenesis are discussed, with their possible relation to infantile diarrhea.