Identification of Hirschsprung's disease

Hirschsprung's disease is a congenital disorder in which nerve cells are missing from part of the large intestine, so that the affected section cannot relax and pass stool normally, causing severe constipation and swelling of the bowel in newborns and infants. It is named for the Danish paediatrician Harald Hirschsprung, who described it in Copenhagen in two infants who had died of enlarged colons. For many decades the cause remained unknown, until it was recognised that the lack of ganglion cells in the lower bowel was responsible. It is treated with surgery to remove the affected segment and to connect the healthy bowel, and most children do well after the operation.

Open on the timeline