Aseptic Mesenteric Lymph Node Abscesses. In Search of an Answer. A New Entity
E. Brătucu, A.M. Lazar, M. Marincas, C. Daha, S. ZuracOriginal article, no. 2, 2013
Mesenteric lymphadenitis constitutes a frequent cause for
abdominal pain and may manifest acute abdominal symptoms.
Very often, it is difficult to achieve a differential diagnosis as
there are many diseases that can generate mesenteric
lymphadenopathy. Many times, it is impossible to determine
the diagnosis of the disease that has triggered mesenteric
lymphadenopathy even after surgical intervention with biopsy.
The failure in determining the precise cause of the mesenteric
lymphadenoapathy, as well as its unresponsiveness to conservative
treatments increases the difficulty in the management of
this disease very much. In this paper we have reviewed the
diseases that can trigger mesenteric lymphadenitis in detail,
with reference to our experience. To the best of our knowledge,
this is the most extensive review on this theme in current
specific literature. The case reported by us, with a history of
mesenteric adenitis, splenic and ganglionic abscesses, vasculitis
skin nodules, pseudotumoral ileal stenosis and remissionrecurrence
pattern over 25 years, has raised extremely difficult
problems of differential diagnosis. Its enlistment as a Crohn’s
disease, vasculitis or aseptic abscess syndrome seems
unsatisfactory. The analysis of the data in this case can raise the
legitimacy of the question: should we recognize and define a
new entity?
