Faculty Bibliography

Recent advances have permitted close correlation of characteristic roentgen signs with the pathophysiologic alterations in lymphoreticular disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. The background of primary and secondary immunoglobin disorders with gastrointestinal manifestations is reviewed. The roentgenographic alterations in the small bowel of the enteropathic immunoglobulin deficiency syndromes and in lymphoma of the small bowel, stomach, and colon are discussed and illustrated in detail

Pneumatosis cystoides coli in most cases is a disease of unknown etiology. In a few patients, it is secondary to an infarction or ulcerative colitis. Associated pulmonary emphysema is not uncommon. The gas pockets, whcih may be of varying size, can be identified along the contour of the bowel. The left side of the colon is more frequently involved than the right. The lesion is usually segmental. The rectum is almost always spared. Symptoms are negligible and operation is not required

In this article the authors present a detailed classification of the various immunoglobulin deficiency states that have gastrointestinal manifestations, and describe the roentgenographic features of these disorders.