REVIEW OF THE PATHOLOGICAL DIAGNOSES OF 2,216 APPENDECTOMY SPECIMENS

A restrospective review of 2,216 patients surgically treated for a cli nical diagnosis of acute appendicitis was performed. In 80% of cases, histologic acute appendictitis was found; 57% of these patients were m ale. The rate of normal appendectomy was 16%, and females comprised 68 % of that group. The remaining 102 cases (4%) were designated as the a lternate diagnosis group. Apart from histologic diagnoses that could b e considered variants of normal (57) or acute inflammation (20), the a lternate diagnosis group included such entities as neoplasm, parasitic infection, mucocele, and diverticulitis.