Duodenal duplication--a case with special features.

A duodenal duplication almost as large as the stomach proper was found along the greater curvature of the stomach in a 6-month-old Caucasian girl. There was a wide communication with the proximal part of the duodenum, from which the duplication blood supply originated. The duplication and the stomach shared the serosal lining, but had individual, full thickness walls. The duplication was removed in toto, and the communication with the duodenum was closed by transverse suture. The luminal lining of the duplication consisted of corpus type of gastric mucosa. There was a 1 X 1 cm mucosal ulceration in the region of which respiratory tract elements were found. The condition is interpreted as a duodenal duplication with ectopic gastric mucosa and respiratory tract elements. To our knowledge, the occurrence of respiratory tract elements in an intestinal duplication BELOW the diaphragm is being reported for the first time. It offers a challenging explanation for the ulceration found within this duplication.