Ultrasonographic demonstration of duplication cyst of the ileum

The enteric duplication cyst is a term applied to an anomaly of the gut which presents as a cystic structure with a mucosal lining predominantly similar to that of the adjacent alimentary tract. It may be either due to an embryologic error in normal canalization or errors in the embryologic connection between the developing gut and neural tube, as a part of the split notochord syndrome. The preoperative diagnosis of a duplication cyst is difficult to make on the basis of conventional radiologic study including barium swallowing gastrointestinal series. With the wide application of ultrasound in the detection and evaluation of pediatric abdominal masses, an intra-abdominal cystic lesion may be encountered and the differential diagnoses may be difficult or impossible. We hereby report a case of duplication cyst of the ileum in which we believe its sonographic appearance is of certain value or even diagnostic in this pathology.