ABDOMINAL ACTINOMYCOSIS

PRIOR to the advent of sulfonamide drugs and penicillin in the treatment of abdominal actinomycosis, the prognosis was extremely grave.¹ In 1931 Good² reported 62 cases of actinomycosis of the abdomen that had been studied at the Mayo Clinic and of these he was able to obtain adequate follow-up reports on 50. Twenty-nine of the patients had died, 7 had shown no improvement, 6 patients had shown improvement and the disease had apparently been arrested in 8. In 1936 Wangensteen^1a reported 5 cases of abdominal actinomycosis, in all of which the patients had had antecedent appendectomy. Four of the 5 patients died, while the fifth patient showed improvement. Many favorable reports are appearing in the literature substantiating the efficacy of the sulfonamide drugs and penicillin in the treatment of all types of actinomycotic infections. Undoubtedly, the use of penicillin and sulfonamide drugs may result in the cure