title: Empty right iliac fossa.
abstract: In the diagnosis of intra-abdominal disease, absence of gas or fecal shadows from the right iliac fossa is an important but nonspecific finding on plain roentgenograms. We found the empty right iliac fossa most commonly associated with acute appendicitis, Crohn's disease, and carcinoma of the cecum. Retrospective analysis of 137 confirmed cases of disease in the right lower quadrant yielded 21 (15.4%) with an empty right iliac fossa. In an additional 21 cases, an empty right iliac fossa was prospectively identified, and 13 of these patients (61.9%) had confirmed disease in a particular area.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000368:Aged; D001064:Appendicitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002430:Cecal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007085:Ilium; D007410:Intestinal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011859:Radiography; D012189:Retrospective Studies