ABSTRACT
Duplications of the alimentary tract are rare spherical or tubular structures that can occur anywhere in the tract from mouth to anus.1 – 3 Calder reported the first case of enteric duplication in 1733, and Ladd,4 in 1937, introduced the term alimentary tract duplication in the hope of clarifying the nomenclature, which had previously included descriptive terms such as enteric or enterogenous cysts; giant diverticula; ileal, jejunal, or colonic duplex; and unusual Meckel diverticulum. Ladd proposed that the unifying term alimentary tract duplications be applied to congenital anomalies that involved the mesenteric side of the associated alimentary tract; had a smooth muscle coat; shared a common blood supply with the native bowel; and were lined by gastrointestinal (GI)-type epithelium.4 Most duplications might indeed be called simply enterogenous cysts, since in only very few cases is there an actual doubling of the alimentary tract, and these are therefore deserving of the name duplication.
