Sonographic appearance of an appendiceal diverticulum

Abstract

The increasing use of sonography for evaluating acute abdomen has brought greater recognition of appendicular abnormalities. We present an incidental finding of an appendiceal diverticulum during a sonographic examination of a 4-year-old child with acute appendicitis. Abdominal sonography showed an enlarged, swollen appendix with a diameter of 1.1 cm and a small, fingerlike lateral projection approximately 2.0 cm from its tip. The specimen, resected during an appendectomy, was 5.5 cm long and 1.0 cm in diameter and had a 0.3-cm outpouching. Microscopic examination revealed a pseudodiverticulum composed of mucosa and muscularis mucosa.