Diagnosis of Crohn's disease. A continuing source of error.

While investigating a series of patients with Crohn's disease it became apparent that a considerable time had elapsed between the onset of symptoms and the establishment of the diagnosis. Since the disease may have protean manifestations, the dif ferential diagnosis may prove difficult (Crohn and Yarnis, 1958; Pimparkar, 1964). Thus it is germane to assess the inci dence of various presenting symptoms and signs, together with the initial diagnosis suggested in these patients, in an attempt to clarify the reason for the diagnostic errors.