Allergic granulomatosis

A clinical and pathologic description of a case of allergic granulomatosis is presented. Intestinal obstruction as a manifestation of allergic granulomatosis is described for the first time. To our knowledge this is but the third recorded instance of allergic granulomatosis diagnosed antemortem. Diagnosis was made from tissue removed during surgery. Under treatment with adrenocortical steroids and plasmoquin a clinical remission, perhaps cure, was achieved. The medical literature contains but few recorded examples of this disease because of (1) difficulty in recognizing it without tissue material, (2) lack of widespread awareness of allergic granulomatosis as a separate entity, and (3) its relative rarity. An attempt is made to define the relationships between allergic granulomatosis and a family of related diseases of which allergic granulomatosis is a member.