Regional enteritis of the duodenum: a review and report of five cases.

Forty-three cases of regional enteritis of the duodenum were found in the world literature. Regional duodenitis is relatively uncommon; in one large series of 600 cases of regional enteritis only three involved the duodenum.At the University of Alberta Hospital, in a three-year period (1962 to 1965), the authors encountered five patients with regional duodenitis, demonstrating a spectrum of clinical, radiologic and pathologic characteristics of this disease. The description of these patients brings the world's total to 48 reported cases.Two of these patients had symptoms of severe duodenal obstruction and were relieved by bypass procedures and vagotomy; one required surgery because of co-existent obstructive ileal disease: and two patients have improved on corticoids and salicylazosulfapyridine without surgery.In our experience treatment with corticoids and salicylazosulfapyridine is beneficial.Four of the five patients remain in a state of mild to moderate nutritional impairment and have evidence of intestinal malabsorption. In the fifth case the period of followup is too short to permit assessment.