Beyond appendicitis; radiologic review of unusual and rare pathology of the appendix

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This review describes and illustrates CT findings for appendiceal pathologies beyond acute appendicitis, including neoplasms, endometriosis, and foreign bodies.

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This radiology review paper surveys atypical and rare appendix pathologies other than routine acute appendicitis, describing high-level CT imaging findings and illustrating them with representative cases across multiple conditions. It highlights entities such as primary appendiceal neoplasms, secondary inflammation, stump appendicitis, appendiceal endometriosis, appendicitis within hernias, appendiceal diverticulosis, intussusception, and intraluminal foreign bodies, with attention to CT patterns that can mimic appendicitis. A key limitation is that the paper is a narrative radiologic review rather than an original study, so it does not provide new comparative diagnostic performance or standardized methods. Relevance to endometriosis: the paper explicitly includes appendiceal endometriosis as one of the uncommon appendix pathologies reviewed alongside CT radiologic–pathologic discussion.

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Abstract

Appendicitis is a very common cause of acute abdominal pathology, however, many other pathologic conditions of the appendix can be diagnosed utilizing CT. Examples of these conditions include primary appendiceal neoplasms, secondary inflammation of the appendix, stump appendicitis, endometriosis, appendicitis within a hernia, appendiceal diverticulosis and intussusception and intraluminal foreign bodies. The purpose of this article is to review appendiceal pathology outside of acute appendicitis, describe corresponding imaging findings on CT, and to illustrate various CT findings of appendiceal disease with representative cases. Similar content being viewed by others

References

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Nihon Shokakibyo Gakkai Zasshi 93:569–572 Chiou YY, Pitman MB, Hahn PF et al (2003) Rare benign and malignant appendiceal lesions: spectrum of computed tomography findings with pathologic correlation. J Comput Assist Tomogr 27:297–306 Author information Authors and Affiliations Corresponding author Rights and permissions About this article Cite this article Hines, J.J., Paek, G.K., Lee, P. et al. Beyond appendicitis; radiologic review of unusual and rare pathology of the appendix. Abdom Radiol 41, 568–581 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00261-015-0600-z Published: Issue date: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00261-015-0600-z

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MeSH descriptors

Appendix Cecal Diseases Tomography, X-Ray Computed Appendix Cecal Diseases Humans

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