[Contribution to the morphology and pathogenesis of eosinophilic colitis (author's transl)]

A 40 year old woman suffered from acute diarrhea and convulsive abdominal pains. Because of a palpable tumor of the right lower abdomen, which was thought to be localized in the deeper layers of the colon ascendens, a hemicolectomy on the right side was performed. Histologically there was a severe phlegmonous eosinophilic inflammation of the bowel wall and the surrounding fatty tissue. A parasite was found within the strongly oedematous submucosal layer. The different forms of eosinophilic inflammatory processes are referred to, with special emphasis on Anisakiasis. The so called "herring-worm-disease" proceeds under the same clinical and morphological features as the above mentioned disease and is caused by a larval nematode. This worm lives as an immature parasite in different saltwater fishes. Most often the stomach and the small intestine are involved; only in a few cases an eosinophilic phlegmon of the large bowel has been observed.