Chronic appendicitis: two case reports.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Chronic appendicitis is a condition unfamiliar to many physicians and is often referred to as a controversial diagnosis. This can give rise to diagnostic delay. CASE PRESENTATION We present two cases of chronic appendicitis a Caucasian female aged 21 years and a Caucasian male aged 34 years. The patients had different clinical presentations, which led the initial investigations in very different directions-tropical infectious disease and possible malignancy, respectively. In both cases, radiological imaging was the key investigation leading to the final surprising diagnosis. CONCLUSION: With these two case stories, we wish to draw attention to chronic appendicitis as a possible differential diagnosis in younger patients with chronic or recurrent abdominal pain, particularly if the pain is located in the lower abdomen and is accompanied by fever.