title: A case of appendiceal Crohn's disease in which a laparoscopic appendectomy was performed.
abstract: A 74-year-old female had occasionally experienced right lower abdominal pain in the past. She underwent a barium enema examination during a medical checkup, which revealed a wall irregularity around the appendix, but the appendix itself was not visualized. The patient was referred to our hospital for possible appendiceal neoplasm. Colonoscopy revealed a tumor-like protrusion with marked redness at the entrance to the appendix. Pathologic analysis of biopsy specimens revealed only inflammatory cells. Differential diagnosis of appendiceal Crohn's disease or appendiceal neoplasm was made, and laparoscopic appendectomy was performed. Pathologic examination revealed inflammation in all layers of the appendiceal wall and noncaseating epithelioid cell granuloma, and a diagnosis of appendiceal Crohn's disease was made. The postoperative course was uneventful, and the patient was discharged from the hospital 3 days after surgery. No sign of recurrence has been observed up to now, 6 months after surgical treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Kaga, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Tamuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hayama
authors.forename: Keiji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsuda
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shibuya
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Akahane
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Horiuchi
authors.forename: Ryu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: Yoshiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Aoyagi
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Soichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ishihara
authors.forename: Keijiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nozawa
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001062:Appendectomy / Q000379:methods*; D001064:Appendicitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D001706:Biopsy; D003113:Colonoscopy; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed