Zuelzer-Wilson's syndrome and absence of the enteric nervous system. Two rare forms of anomalies of the enteric nervous system with identical clinical symptoms.
47 children have been treated in Basel for aganglionosis (Hirschsprung's disease) during the last 25 years. Six children presented severe vomiting and an ileus as leading symptoms instead of chronic constipation, the classical leading symptom of Hirschsprung's disease. Clinical, radiological and intraoperative findings were virtually identical in these 6 patients. However, enzyme histochemical and immunocytochemical investigations disclosed an aganglionosis of the entire colon (Zuelzer-Wilson's disease) in 3 patients, absence of the enteric nervous system in the small and large intestine in 2 patients, and a combination of both in 1 patient. In contrast to children suffering from aganglionosis of the entire colon, the chance of survival for patients with an absence of the enteric nervous system is extremely small. It is therefore necessary in presence of severe vomiting and an ileus to take intraoperative biopsies from the large and the small intestine. The precise diagnosis can be made only by using enzyme histochemical and immunocytochemical techniques.