This disease is named for Harald Hirschsprung, the Danish physician who first described the disease in 1886.
Symptoms and signs
The disease is congenital, but occasionally symptoms do not appear until early adulthood. In infants, the primary symptom is not passing meconium within the first 24 to 48 hours of life.
Diagnosis
Definitive diagnosis is via rectal biopsy.
Treatment
Treatment is always surgical, with resection of the offending area, often with a colostomy performed before a second stage procedure to reanastomose the colon with the anus.
