LESIONS OF ASCENDING COLON

To the Editor:— In two recent articles, lesions of the ascending colon have been intimated to be cecal. By definition (Thorek: Anatomy in Surgery, Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott Company, 1951; Turell: Diseases of Colon and Anorectum, Philadelphia, W. B. Saunders Company, 1959, vol. 1; Spalteholz: Handatlas der Anatomie des Menschen, Leipzig, Verlag von S. Hirzel, 1920, vol. 3), the cecum is that portion of the large intestine of which the distal limit is the ileocecal valve. Accordingly, that part of the colon immediately above or distal to this site is part of the ascending colon. In the article by Waggener and others entitled "Asymptomatic Tuberculous Enteritis Simulating Carcinoma of the Cecum" inThe Journal, Nov. 7, 1959, page 1337, it is stated that "roentgenographic examinations of the colon with use of the barium enema revealed a persistent filling defect of the middle of the ascending colon," and the legend beneath