ABSTRACT
Duplications of the alimentary tract are rare spherical or
tubular structures which can occur anywhere in the tract
from mouth to anus.13 Ladd,4 in 1937, introduced the term
‘alimentary tract duplication’ in the hope of clarifying the
nomenclature which had previously included descriptive
terms such as enteric or enterogenous cysts; giant diverticula;
ileal, jejunal, or colonic duplex, an unusual Meckel’s
diverticulum. Ladd proposed that the unifying term ‘alimen-
tary tract duplications’ be applied to congenital anomalies
that involved the mesenteric side of the associated alimentary
tract and shared a common blood supply with native bowel.4
Most duplications might indeed be called simply ‘enterogen-
ous cysts’, since in only very few cases is there an actual
doubling of the alimentary tract and these are therefore
deserving of the name ‘duplication’.
