Nationwide Population-Based Epidemiologic Study of Hirschsprung's Disease in Taiwan.

In 1886, Harald Hirschsprung first described two cases of infantile constipation with colonic dilation, but he did not suggest any etiology or therapeutic option. Over the past 30 years, many studies have revealed the clinical presentation, radiological and histological diagnoses, surgical procedures, epidemiology, and associated genetics related to colonic dilation. Hirschsprung’s disease (HD) is a congenital disease with a defect in the enteric nervous system, leading to significant morbidity and even mortality in early childhood. It is usually subdivided into shortand long-segment disease. In rare cases, there is total colonic aganglionosis and even total intestinal HD. The aganglionic intestinal segments cause mechanical obstruction because of their failure to