Gardner's syndrome. Report of three cases and review of the literature.

Three cases of Gardner's syndrome are reported. Two patients had one and two carcinomas in the colon respectively. Postoperatively the two patients developed desmoid tumours in the abdominal wall, and one of them also an intraabdominal desmoid. The literature is briefly reviewed with respect to diagnosis and treatment of the components of the syndrome. A special section is devoted to the differentialdiagnostic problems. The reports from the last years concerning this problem are surveyed, and the rationale for maintenance of Gardner's syndrome and familial polyposis of the colon as two different genetic entities is questioned.