Investigation of The Histopathological and Histometric Changes in Rectum Tissue Biopsies of Hirschsprung and Non-Hirschsprung Disease in Neonate and Infant

Hirschsprung disease is one of the most common and problematic infancy and childhood maladies. The most reliable method for diagnosis is the histopathological analysis of colorectal biopsies and the typical finding of Hirschsprung disease is the absence of ganglion cells. The study involved 36 cases of suspected Hirschsprung disease, in which 27 cases were males and 9 cases were females with an age range between (1 day - 1 year). All patients undergo complete history taking, physical examination, radiological investigations, and rectal biopsy. The tissue specimens were obtained from the rectum of neonate and infant patients, maintained in the fixative solution (formalin 10%) for histopathological analysis, and patients were divided into two groups (Hirschsprung disease and non-Hirschsprung disease group) according to histological findings. Statistical analysis was performed on the tabulated data by chi-square, and the automated computer-adopted image analysis program Image J® was utilized for the histometrical examination of rectum tissue. The Hirschsprung disease is more common in males than females. The delayed passage of meconium is the most common symptom of these diseases. We notice that there is a significant difference between the Hirschsprung disease group and the non-Hirschsprung disease group in clinical signs, empty rectum, tight anal sphincter on per rectal examination. Based on histopathology analysis of the rectal biopsy, out of the 36 cases, 27(75%) cases were diagnosed as Hirschsprung disease, and 9 (25%) cases as negative for Hirschsprung disease. In Histometric study of rectal biopsies tissues showed a significant difference in the mucosa, Submucosa, and muscularis externa between Hirschsprung disease and non-Hirschsprung disease patients.