Fibrous Stricture of the Rectum Due to Lymphogranuloma Venereum

Abstract

FIFTEEN years have elapsed since this subject was discussed before the Royal Society of Medicine. On that occasion Bensaude and Lambling [1] of Paris analysed a large series of cases, which they had investigated by the biological methods introduced by Frei [2], and claimed that lymphogranuloma venereum (L.G.V.) is the only important cause of fibrous stricture of the rectum, and, while other conditions, notably gonorrhoea, syphilis and chancroid, often accompany the stricture, they do not cause the stricture as was once thought. Their observations have been confirmed and extended and L.G.V. is now accepted as a specific disease caused by a virus which gives rise to general constitutional disturbances and to one or more local manifestations-anorectal, inguinal and genital. The relative frequency of these manifestations varies in the published reports [3, 4], but it is fair to say that where L.G.V. is prevalent the anorectal type is commonly found. In this category are included conditions such as perirectal abscess, proctitis, fistula and stricture, but stricture, alone or in combination, greatly predominates. It is clear therefore that the incidence of fibrous stricture of the rectum and that of L.G.V. cannot be dissociated. In France and in the United States their frequency is high. This is evident from th'e experience of Bensgude and Lambling [1] who investigated 158 new cases of L.G.V. with stricture-between 1931 and 1936, and equally impressive series of