Abstract
Tuberculous intestinal lesions are commonly found
inphthisical individuals, and this second r: tie of the
disease tends to assume one of two forms - (1) the
entero-peritoneal (2) the ulcerative.
The entero-peritoneal form results when the
disease spreads in depth to invade the outer coats of the
gut, and the neighbouring structures: while in the
ulcerative type, which is more commonly found in the
large intestine, the disease remains restricted to the
mucous and submucous coats, which are rapidly but
irregularly destroyed over large areas.
The Localised Form of Intestinal Tuberculosis occurs in
individuals infected with, but resistant to tubercle, and
the lesion is commonly situated in the neighbourhood of the
ileo-caecal valve.
The disease runs a chronic course, and attention
may only be drawn to it as it cicatrises end narrows the gut,
or serves as a starting, point for acute or chronic infections
of its walls.
The chronic secondary infection gives rise to the
formation of localised, or more rarely diffuse, granulomatous
masses which thicken the walls of the gut, and may obstruct
its lumen.
While tubercle is the common cause of the localised
form of hyperplasia, it would appear that the diffuse variety
of thickening of the walls of the gut may result from an
condition which can set up and maintain a chronic infection
of the walls of the bowel, and the histological appearances
of the diseased tissues and regional glands suggest that
lymphatic obstruction and resulting chronic lymphatic oedema are factors of importance in the production of both.
