Adrenergic innervation of bowel in Hirschsprung's disease.

The adrenergic innervation of normal and aganglionic regions of bowel from patients with Hirschsprung's disease was investigated by a fluorescent histochemical technique. In normal bowel the adrenergic nerves end about intramural ganglion cells. In aganglionic bowel the adrenergic nerves form a dense varicose plexus in both muscularis externa and muscularis mucosae. It is suggested that the cause of megacolon in Hirschsprung's disease is due to a lack of nervous pathways controlling the intrinsic reflexes, which is probably congenital in origin.