[Pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis: associated diseases, morphology and presumed pathogenesis]

Based on six cases, the clinical presentation, morphology and presumable pathogenesis of pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis (PCI) are discussed. As a rule PCI is not a disease in its own right, but a complication of very different, in part extraintestinal diseases. These can be subsumed in three groups. Group 1 includes patients with PCI as a complication of lung disease and initially normal intestinal status. The patients in group 2 develop pneumatosis on the grounds of intestinal disease secondary to primary extraintestinal or generalized disease. In group 3 pneumatosis develops as a complication of primary gastrointestinal disease.