Is Barium Enema Reliable for the Diagnosis of Total Colonic Aganglionosis?

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Barium enema is one of the diagnostic modalities for Hirschsprung'sdisease. The present study aimed to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of barium enema for Hirschsprung's disease, especially total colonic aganglionosis (TCA). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all the patients who were diagnosed as having TCA and underwent a barium enema in Asan Medical Center Children's Hospital between January 1998 and December 2016. All the tests were performed and reviewed by pediatric radiologists. RESULTS: Among the total 19 patients with TCA who underwent barium enema, 9 patients (47.4%) had accurate radiographic results. Eight of the 13 neonate patients (61.5%) showed typical TCA radiological findings. However, only one of the 6 patients aged >4 weeks (16.7%) had accurate radiological diagnosis. CONCLUSION: Barium enema showed low accuracy for TCA, and its diagnostic performance was better in neonatal period than in those aged >4 weeks.