[The place of anatomo-pathological study in the diagnosis of enterocolitis complicated by Yersinia pseudo-tuberculosis].

Over a period of 3 months, 3 patients were operated on for subacute enterocolitis. The first case was a 3 years old boy with a transverse colonic perforation near the right angle and gross lymphadenopathy. The second case was a 21 years old man who had subacute terminal ileitis. Histopathological study showed specific lesions in those two cases: ovoïd or starry abscesses with preepithelioïd cells, rare giant Langhans cells, rare altered polynuclear cells in necrosis, massive lymphoïd hyperplasia. The third case was a 27 years woman with mild appendicitis showing masses of bacteria in the wall of appendix, surrounded by lymphocytes without polynuclear. Serological study showed anti YPST agglutinins significantly modified in all 3 cases. In the absence of bacteriological study, the role of pathological findings is discussed.