Pathology of the appendix

An audit of 3374 appendectomy specimens in 2578 Saudi and 796 non-Saudi nat ionals revealed a diagnosis rate of 74.7% of inflamed appendix, a normal ap pendix range of 7.8% to 22.5% with the higher rate of normal appendix found among females. The finding of high incidence of schistosomal appendicitis among Egyptian males is not surprising given the high incidence of schistos omiasis among Egyptians in general. The alternate diagnoses, which include such conditions as neoplasm, mucocele, other inflammatory conditions such a s periappendicitis, and parasitic infestations, are not different from find ings in the reported literature.