Acute terminal ileitis and Yersinia enterocolitica infection.

Diarrhea, moderate to high fever and pain in the RLQ associated with a tender mass or swelling of the terminal ileum arouse suspicion of acute terminal ileitis. Will diagnostic of the disease be laboratory data compatible with acute inflammatory disease and radiological findings of the terminal ileum, i.e., thickening of mucosal folds, round filling defects on the mucosa indicative of swelling of lymphoid tissue and fine irregularities of the margin without narrowing of the lumen. Yersinia infection was demonstrated in 7 of 10 patients whose stool and/or serum were examined. Yersinia enterocolitica was found to be an important causative agent of acute terminal ileitis. Its detection will be useful for differentiating the disease from acute stage of Crohn's disease.