Yersinia enterocolitica mesenteric adenitis in a thalassaemic adolescent

There are generally no complications of Yersinia enterocolitica mesenteric adenitis in otherwise healthy subjects. However, patients with predisposing illness and Y. enterocolitica mesenteric adenitis have been reported worldwide to have a more problematic course once infected. It is plausible that the difficulty of diagnosing this entity might contribute to this phenomenon. In the past, laparotomy has played a key role in documenting mesenteric adenitis, but recent reports have challenged the merit of its use in patients with pseudo-appendicular syndrome. Considering that inflammatory lesions in the mesenteric lymph nodes as well as in the ileum and caecum may remain undetected even during exploratory laparotomy, an alternative or complementary modality for diagnosing this clinical entity is badly needed. Computed tomography (CT) and ultrasonography (US) have been advocated. Recently we observed a 17-year-old boy with betathalassaemia major who had been receiving regular blood transfusions and subcutaneous desferrioxamine.