A Five-Year Chart Review of Children Biopsied to Rule Out Hirschsprung's Disease

Abstract

A 5-year chart review of all children biopsied to rule out Hirschsprung's disease was conducted at Johns Hopkins Hospital. A total of 150 (90%) charts of the 160 children who were biopsied were obtained and reviewed. Twenty-four children (16%) had aganglionosis by surgical pathology report. All had the onset of symptoms in the neonatal period. Ninety-seven percent of children without Hirschsprung's disease and who were biopsied after the neonatal period did not have symptoms during the first 4 weeks of life. Despite having severe symptoms from birth, nine (37.5%) of the children with Hirschsprung's disease were not biopsied until an average age of 15 months.

Data indicate that using the presence of bowel symptoms from the neonatal period as criteria for referral for biopsy would have missed none of the children with Hirschsprung's disease. Children with symptoms dating from the neonatal period should be considered for biopsy to avoid potential morbidity and mortality from the complication of enterocolitis.