What is Hirschsprung's disease?

What is Hirschsprung's disease?

• Hirschsprung's disease: A rare condition where abnormalities in the bowel muscles prevent it from contracting normally and pushing the fecal matter through which results in obstruction and dilation of the bowel.
• Hirschsprung's disease: Congenital MEGACOLON resulting from the absence of ganglion cells (aganglionosis) in a distal segment of the LARGE INTESTINE. The aganglionic segment is permanently contracted thus causing dilatation proximal to it. In most cases, the aganglionic segment is within the RECTUM and SIGMOID COLON.
  Source - Diseases Database
• Hirschsprung's disease: congenital condition in which the colon does not have the normal network of nerves; there is little urge to defecate so the feces accumulate and cause megacolon.
  Source - WordNet 2.1

Hirschsprung's disease is listed as a "rare disease" by the Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This means that Hirschsprung's disease, or a subtype of Hirschsprung's disease, affects less than 200,000 people in the US population.
Source - National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Hirschsprung's disease: Introduction

Types of Hirschsprung's disease:

Types of Hirschsprung's disease:

• Long-segment disease
• Short-segment disease
• more types...»

Broader types of Hirschsprung's disease:

• Digestive Diseases
• Bowel conditions
• Colon conditions
• more types...»

Who gets Hirschsprung's disease?

Patient Profile for Hirschsprung's disease: Usually in infants from birth, but sometimes no symptoms till teens or adulthood.

Profile for Hirschsprung's disease: HD usually occurs in children. (Source: excerpt from What I need to know about Hirschsprung's disease: NIDDK)

How serious is Hirschsprung's disease?

Complications of Hirschsprung's disease: see complications of Hirschsprung's disease

What causes Hirschsprung's disease?

Causes of Hirschsprung's disease: see causes of Hirschsprung's disease
Cause of Hirschsprung's disease: Congenital absence of nerves in part of the colon, from unclear causes. Some cases are genetic but others are not.
Causes of Hirschsprung's disease: HD develops before a child is born. Normally, nerve cells grow in the baby's intestine soon after the baby begins to grow in the womb. These nerve cells grow down from the top of the intestine all the way to the anus. With HD, the nerve cells stop growing before they reach the end.

No one knows why the nerve cells stop growing. But we do know that it's not the mother's fault. HD isn't caused by anything the mother did while she was pregnant. (Source: excerpt from What I need to know about Hirschsprung's disease: NIDDK)
Risk factors for Hirschsprung's disease: see risk factors for Hirschsprung's disease

What are the symptoms of Hirschsprung's disease?

Symptoms of Hirschsprung's disease: see symptoms of Hirschsprung's disease

Complications of Hirschsprung's disease: see complications of Hirschsprung's disease

Can anyone else get Hirschsprung's disease?

Inheritance: see inheritance of Hirschsprung's disease

Hirschsprung's disease: Testing

Diagnostic testing: see tests for Hirschsprung's disease.

Misdiagnosis: see misdiagnosis and Hirschsprung's disease.

How is it treated?

Treatments for Hirschsprung's disease: see treatments for Hirschsprung's disease
Research for Hirschsprung's disease: see research for Hirschsprung's disease

Organs Affected by Hirschsprung's disease:

Organs and body systems related to Hirschsprung's disease include:

• Large intestine
• Colon
• Digestive

Name and Aliases of Hirschsprung's disease

Main name of condition: Hirschsprung's disease

HD, megacolon, aganglionic, HSCR, Hirschsprung disease 1, HSCR 1, Aganglionic megacolon, Hirschsprung disease type 1

Aganglionic megacolon Source - Diseases Database

Hirschsprung's disease, Congenital megacolon
Source - WordNet 2.1

Aganglionic megacolon, HSCR, HSCR 1, Hirschsprung disease 1, Hirschsprung disease type 1, Huntington's chorea, Huntington's disease, Huntington disease
Source - Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Research the causes of these diseases that are similar to, or related to, Hirschsprung's disease:

• Hirschsprung enterocolitis
• Hirschsprung's enterocolitis
• Congenital aganglionosis
• Congenital megacolon
• Megacolon congenitum
• Hirschsprung's disease
• Enterocolitis
• Abdominal distention
• Outflow incontinence
• Transmural intestinal necrosis
• Intestinal perforation
• Neonatal meconium plug syndrome

 » Next page: Online Medical Textbooks for Hirschsprung's disease

Rate This Website

What do you think about the features of this website? Take our user survey and have your say:

Website User Survey

Medical Tools & Articles:

Next articles:

• Online Medical Textbooks for Hirschsprung's disease
• Prevalence and Incidence of Hirschsprung's disease
• Videos related to Hirschsprung's disease
• Types of Hirschsprung's disease
• Causes of Hirschsprung's disease

Tools & Services:

• Bookmark this page
• Take a survey relating to Hirschsprung's disease
• Symptom Search
• Symptom Checker
• Medical Dictionary
• Give your feedback

Medical Articles:

• Disease & Treatments Search
• Misdiagnosis Center
• Full list of interesting articles

Forums & Message Boards

• Ask or answer a question at the Boards:
• I cannot get a diagnosis. Please help.
• Tell us your medical story.
• Share your misdiagnosis story.
• What is the best treatment for my condition?
• See all the Boards.

Enter your search terms Submit search form
Search The Web Search wrongdiagnosis.com

Common Health Mistakes

Symptom
Checker

Search Specialists by State and City