1/97. Familial enteropathy: a syndrome of protracted diarrhea from birth, failure to thrive, and hypoplastic villus atrophy.We have studied 5 infants with persistent severe diarrhea from birth and marked abnormalities of absorption associated with failure to thrive leading to death in 4 infants. Three had siblings who died and a sibling of a 4th is ill at present, all with a similar illness; 2 were the products of consanguinous marriages. Exhaustive investigation failed to identify a recognized disease entity in any patient. steatorrhea, sugar malabsorption, dehydration, and acidosis were severe in all patients, whatever the diet fed. Total parenteral nutrition was used, but excessive stool water and electrolyte losses persisted even when nothing was fed by mouth. There was no evidence of a hematological or consistent immunological defect in any infant and no abnormalities of intestinal hormones were noted. In the duodenal mucosa of all infants we saw similar abnormalities characterized by villus atrophy, crypt hypoplasia without an increase in mitoses or inflammatory cell infiltrate in the lamina propria and in villus enterocytes absence of a brush border, increase in lysosome-like inclusions, and autophagocytosis. In 3 infants studied by marker perfusion of the proximal jejunum we found abnormal glucose absorption and a blunted response of Na absorption to actively transported nonelectrolytes; in 2 there was net secretion of Na and H2O in the basal state. Our patients evidently suffered from a congenital enteropathy which caused profound defects in their capacity to assimilate nutrients. The similar structural lesion seen in the small intestinal epithelium of all of our cases undoubtedly contributed to their compromised intestinal function, but the pathogenesis of this disorder, if indeed it is a single disease, remains obscure.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = diarrhea (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/97. flavobacterium meningosepticum sepsis in an infant with a diarrheal prodrome.A full term, previously normal 2 1/2-month-old black boy was transferred to our hospital from an outlying facility on hospital day 5 for failure to thrive. Three weeks before transfer, the infant was hospitalized for a diarrheal illness with fever. The baby received 3 days of ceftriaxone empirically and was discharged home after the sepsis evaluation was negative. Mild diarrhea and steady weight loss continued and the baby was readmitted. blood culture done on admission grew flavobacterium meningosepticum, an organism previously described as an uncommon cause of sepsis in neonates and immunocompromised individuals. As it is water-borne, it has been associated with infection via contaminated water. This organism is usually resistant to antibiotics commonly used for empiric treatment. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of flavobacterium bacteremia associated with a prodromal and concurrent diarrheal illness.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1.4keywords = diarrhea (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/97. Isolated deficient alpha6beta4 integrin expression in the gut associated with intractable diarrhea.BACKGROUND: An infant born with pyloric atresia had development of intractable diarrhea and was found to have total epithelial detachment of gastric and small and large bowel mucosa. She had no skin abnormalities. Parental consanguinity and pyloric atresia in a sibling who died without autopsy suggest an inherited origin for this disorder. The purpose of this study was to examine defects in intestinal and skin cell adhesion. methods: Histologic, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural characteristics of the skin and gut of the patient were compared with that of normal control subjects. Distribution of adhesion molecules was determined. RESULTS: Immunofluorescent analysis of the digestive mucosa showed alpha6beta4 integrin expression deficiency at the epithelial cell-lamina propria junction. Ultrastructural examination of the digestive mucosa revealed a complete epithelial detachment with a cleavage plane lying between the lamina densa and the basal pole of the enterocytes. Consistent with the absence of skin blistering, integrin alpha6beta4 was expressed at the dermal-epidermal junction. Electron micrographs of skin biopsy specimens showed the presence of normal hemidesmosomes and the absence of dermal-epidermal dysadhesion. CONCLUSION: It was postulated that this patient had protracted diarrhea related to epithelial detachment of the digestive mucosa as a consequence of a deficiency of an integrin alpha6beta4 isoform specific to the gut.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1.2keywords = diarrhea (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/97. Intractable diarrhea in a newborn infant: microvillous inclusion disease.A newborn male presented with watery diarrhea, dehydration and metabolic acidosis. Severe secretory diarrhea of variable magnitude persisted when the patient was on parenteral nutrition with no oral intake. Initial light microscopic evaluation of a small intestinal mucosal biopsy showed partial villous atrophy and crypt hypoplasia. Ultrastructural studies of the villous enterocyte revealed internalized inclusions of microvilli, typical of microvillous inclusion disease. Presented are a case report and a discussion of the differential diagnosis of watery diarrhea in the neonate, as well as a short review of microvillous inclusion disease.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1.5148181861367keywords = diarrhea, watery diarrhea (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/97. Generalized seborrheic dermatitis in an immunodeficient newborn.We report the case of a female infant with failure to thrive, generalized seborrheic dermatitis, and intermittent diarrhea. Results of laboratory investigation revealed low serum immunoglobulin g IgG levels. She failed to gain additional weight and experienced recurrent infection. She died 3 months later.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.2keywords = diarrhea (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/97. Microvillus inclusion disease as a cause of severe protracted diarrhea in infants.There are many etiologies responsible for severe intractable diarrhea in infancy, for instance, autoimmune enteropathy, microvillus inclusion disease, tufting enteropathy, food allergy, post-enteritis syndrome, chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction, Hirschsprung's disease, intestinal lymphangiectasia, congenital sodium or chloride diarrhea, and congenital enzymatic deficiency. This article reports a case of microvillus inclusion disease in a Thai patient. He presented with severe intractable watery diarrhea with persistent metabolic acidosis. After extensive investigation, the diagnosis of microvillus inclusion disease was made, based on the ultrastructural findings of microvillus inclusions in the cytoplasm of the enterocyte on electron microscopic study. Various treatments were introduced to the patient without clinical improvement, including cholestyramine, metronidazole, probiotics, and octreotide. He was dependent on total parenteral nutrition and subsequently died from TPN-related complications. Even though it is a rare disease, it should be considered if an infant has chronic secretory diarrhea.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1.6574090930684keywords = diarrhea, watery diarrhea (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/97. Intestinal microvillous atrophy in a patient with down syndrome and aganglionic megacolon.Intestinal microvillous disorders are an uncommon cause of severe diarrhea, with very poor prognosis. The authors report the case of a female infant with down syndrome, aganglionic megacolon, severe diarrhea, and jejunal biopsy with ultrastructural changes consistent with microvillous atrophy. The patient condition improved after a colostomy performed in the setting of the treatment of Hirschprung disease.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.4keywords = diarrhea (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/97. Gastrointestinal microvillus inclusion disease.A 3-year-old girl of Navajo heritage had intractable diarrhea beginning at 4 days of age and resulting in long-term hyperalimentation. Investigation before multivisceral transplantation included biopsies of the rectum, stomach, duodenum, and liver. The diagnosis of microvillus inclusion disease was established by documentation of microvillus inclusions in duodenal epithelial cells. A trial of somatostatin therapy was ineffective in controlling the diarrhea. Subsequently, a multivisceral organ transplant provided a unique opportunity to establish the gastrointestinal extent of involvement of this disease. Ultrastructural microvillus inclusions were identified in the duodenum, jejunum, ileum, and colon, but not in the gallbladder. A few inclusions also were documented in gastric antral epithelial cells. alkaline phosphatase stains performed on paraffin-embedded material showed a few inclusions in the antrum of the stomach and many inclusions throughout the small intestine, primarily in surface epithelial cells but also in upper crypt cells.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.4keywords = diarrhea (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/97. Prenatal presentation of congenital chloride diarrhea: clinical report and review of the literature.A case of congenital chloride diarrhea was diagnosed after delivery in a patient whose antenatal course was notable for massively dilated small and large bowel and persistent, severe hydramnios refractory to therapy. The pathophysiologic mechanism is a dysfunctional chloride-bicarbonate exchange in the brush border of the ileum. Antenatal presentation, prenatal diagnosis, and a review of the current literature are discussed.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = diarrhea (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/97. Intractable diarrhea of infancy with facial dysmorphism, trichorrhexis nodosa, and cirrhosis.A 3-year-old girl had severe intractable diarrhea with trichorrhexis nodosa and cirrhosis. This patient was referred to the pediatric dermatology clinic for lifelong brittle hair. The brittle hair microscopically demonstrated trichorrhexis nodosa. The girl also had facial dysmorphism, with a prominent forehead and cheeks, broad flat nose, and hypertelorism. She had a history of severe intractable diarrhea since 2 weeks of age and failure to thrive requiring lifelong total parenteral nutrition (TPN). hepatomegaly was noted and prompted liver biopsy which demonstrated cirrhosis. Mental retardation and developmental delay was also found upon examination. This child may be included in the syndrome of intractable infant diarrhea, an entity known in the gastroenterology literature but yet not reported in the dermatologic literature. Dermatologists should be aware of this syndrome in which trichorrhexis nodosa is commonly seen.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1.4keywords = diarrhea (Clic here for more details about this article) |
| | Next -> |