[An unusual case of chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction].

Abstract

A 10 year old girl developed a skin exanthema and an ileus after ingestion of a great number of elastic bands. The girl was never seriously ill before. She underwent at two different times a laparotomy each of one showing no mechanical obstructions. The bowel was distended and inflammatory processes were detected on the serosa. The proximal jejunal loops were adherent to each other and the whole bowel was adynamic. The histological findings showed a muscle necrosis of the tunica muscularis propria (longitudinal layer). Two months later the girl died on therapy resistant chronical intestinal pseudoobstruction. The autopsy showed the above mentioned muscle necrosis without vacuoles in the tunica muscularis beginning from the stomach till the anus. After consideration of the clinical, laboratory and patho-anatomical findings we think that this is a case of parainfectious visceral leiomyositis.