Yersinia pseudotuberculosis commonly presents with which clinical condition?

• A. Epiglottitis
• B. Hepatitis
• C. Mesenteric lymphadenitis
• D. Pseudomembranous colitis

Answer: (C)

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis most often presents as mesenteric lymphadenitis, which is regional swelling and inflammation of the lymph nodes in the mesentery of the intestine. This infection typically begins after ingestion, and the bacteria target lymphoid tissue in the terminal ileum (Peyer’s patches). They invade M cells, then spread to the mesenteric nodes, causing painful, swollen nodes that can mimic appendicitis—a presentation known as pseudoappendicitis. Clinically you see abdominal pain (often in the right lower quadrant) with fever and sometimes diarrhea, particularly in children.

The other options describe conditions not characteristically caused by this organism: epiglottitis is an acute airway/epiglottic infection; hepatitis is liver inflammation rather than mesenteric adenitis; pseudomembranous colitis is typically antibiotic-associated C. difficile infection with diarrhea and pseudomembranes.