Hirschsprung disease and anorectal malformations — An uncommon association

The simultaneous occurrence of Hirschsprung disease (HD) and anorectal malformation (ARM) is extremely rare, with only a very limited amount of cases published in the literature.Constipation is a major problem in patients operated for ARM, and biopsies from the distal rectum in patients with ARM may not show ganglion cells owing to different reasons, leading to a false positive diagnosis of HD. A pull-through procedure for HD after previous anorectoplasty for ARM always leads to fecal incontinence.
Source: Journal of Pediatric Surgery - Category: Surgery Authors: Source Type: research