General Abdominal Lymphadenopathy

It has come to be fairly recognized that there exists in children and young adolescents an acute abdominal condition of moderate or severe grade, similar in its general manifestations to appendicitis, diverticulitis, etc., but in which the predominant discoverable observations at operation consist only of an inflammatory enlargement of the mesenteric and retroperitoneal lymph glands in the ileocecal angle. The condition appears to be more common than is thought (Struthers;¹Freeman;²Heusser;³Wilensky and others⁴), and in a series collected by Short⁵it was found to occur in 6 per cent of 200 cases. The condition comes mostly under the direct observation of pediatricians and surgeons. An atmosphere of anxiety prevails. The general clinical facts concerning this condition are as follows: The patient is usually between 3 and 18 years of age (Wilensky;4aShort;⁵Freeman;²Struthers¹), but the condition has been