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Pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis

  • Published:
Diseases of the Colon & Rectum

Summary

Pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis (PCI) is an uncommon disease of previously unknown etiology, characterized by the presence of gas-filled cysts in the walls of some portion of the gastrointestinal tract. This investigation showed that PCI was readily produced in the germfree rat by inoculating its peritoneal cavity with a pure culture of eitherC. perfringens orC. tertium. Similar inoculation of the germfree animal with any one of eight other clostridia species did not result in the formation of PCI. The bacterial theory for the formation of at least some cases of PCI is now established. This work suggests that part of the treatment of those fulminating diseases known to be frequently associated with PCI should be directed at controlling a possible clostridial infection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Surgery and Medical Microbiology, University of Wisconsin Medical School, 53706, Madison, Wisconsin

    Charles E. Yale M.D. & Edward Balish Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Charles E. Yale M.D.
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  2. Edward Balish Ph.D.
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Additional information

Read at the meeting of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, San Francisco, California, May 4 to 8, 1975.

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Yale, C.E., Balish, E. Pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis. Dis Colon Rectum 19, 107–111 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02590860

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02590860

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