Congenital absence of the vermiform appendix is a rare anomaly. Its infrequence is illustrated by the following data: Of 8,102 cases examined in the autopsy and dissecting room, in which the presence or absence of the appendix was noted, only two showed congenital absence. The source of these figures is shown in table 1.
Further evidence of the rarity of the anomaly is found in the fact that, according to Dorland,1 who reviewed the literature in 1925, only thirty-seven authentic cases have been reported. Other authors regard true cases of complete congenital absence as even more rare; thus, Dailey,2 in 1910, accepted only ten of the twenty-six cases reported up to that time.
The literature has been reviewed by Schridde3 (1904), by Daíley2 (1910) and Dorland1 (1925). The first reference to the subject is credited to Morgagni4 in 1719. In 1762, W. Hunter5