Primary hypertrophic pyloric stenosis in the adult.

A case is reported of a 55 year old male patient with primary hypertrophic pyloric stenosis who was subjected to distal gastrectomy. Adult hypertrophic pyloric stenosis is an uncommon condition which is usually misdiagnosed as carcinoma of the antrum. It is a benign disease resulting from hypertrophy of the circular fibres of the pyloric canal and is recognizable radiologically by narrowing and elongation of the pyloric canal and endoscopically by appearances resembling those of the cervix. This condition is probably congenital although aetiology has not been established. In the absence of symptoms, no clinical treatment is required. However, surgical intervention is advocated, when stenosis gives rise to symptoms, there is a suspicion of malignancy, or the ulceration due to the disease. Distal gastrectomy with gastroduodenostomy is the treatment of choice.