Typhoid appendicitis and ‘the man from Istanbul’

ABSTRACT

We describe typhoid appendicitis in a 19-year-old girl. The appendix showed aggregates of macrophages in the mucosa and in the wall. Blood culture yielded Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi. The presence of macrophages in an appendicectomy specimen should prompt the pathologist to consider the possibility of typhoid fever, even in the absence of supporting microbiological investigations.