ABSTRACT
Congenital segmental dilatation of the intestine is a rare
lesion defined as limited bowel dilatation with three-to four-
fold increased size with an abrupt transition between normal
and dilated bowel and no intrinsic or extrinsic barrier distally
to the dilatation. This condition is complicated by obstruc-
tion of the intestines or chronic constipation from birth.
Since Swenson and Rathauser first described three patients
with segmental dilatation of the colon in 1959,1 59 cases
(30 newborns, 25 children, and 4 adults) with this condition
(41 in the small intestine and 18 in the colon) were reported
in the world literature by 1996.2 Since then, the number of
case reports has increased greatly.
