Crohn's disease of the appendix.

A giant appendix is an extremely rare and improbable finding during surgery in suspected cases of acute appendicitis. Although this condition is prima rily suggestive of neoplasia, it is usually due to an inflammatory or infec tious disease. We report a case of Crohn's disease limited to the appendix, which was diagnosed after a short right ileocolectomy. Only 156 similar di agnoses have been reported in the literature to date. This disease appears to have a benign course and therefore differs from classical Crohn's ileoco litis. For this reason, these patients do not require any specific investig ation or follow-up. (C) 2000 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier S AS.