This disease is the congenital absence of autonomic ganglia in the smooth muscle wall of the colon, resulting in poor or absent peristalsis in the involved segment of colon, accumulation of feces, and dilatation of the bowel (megacolon).

Hirschsprung's disease is named after the 19th century doctor, Harold Hirschsprung, who first identified it in 1886.

Hirschsprung's disease, or congenital intestinal aganglionosis (CIA), is a lack of nerve (ganglion) cells in a segment of the bowel. This...