IgA antigliadin antibodies in celiac and inflammatory bowel disease

Antibodies against gliadin of the IgA class were assessed with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique in children with celiac disease, healthy blood donors, and adult patients with active Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. Significantly higher antibody values were found in celiac children during gluten challenge and during the first 3 months on a gluten-free diet, compared with the findings in the healthy blood donors. The patients with active Crohn's disease had significantly higher levels of IgA antibodies to gliadin than the controls did. Although the highest values were found in patients with celiac disease on a gluten-containing diet, the difference between the means of these two groups was not statistically significant. No correlation was found between disease activity in ulcerative colitis and antibody values. The present results support the view that high levels of IgA-class antibodies against gliadin are indicative of small intestinal disease, especially celiac disease. The variability of the levels of antibodies found among the patients suggests that not only the amount of gluten in the diet but also other factors are important.     

Asymptomatic small bowel intussusception associated with post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease

Abstract:  A 2-yr-old boy who had undergone orthotopic liver transplantation for biliary atresia 6 months prior presented with generalized lymphadenopathy. Physical exam revealed lymphadenopathy only; the patient had no gastrointestinal signs or symptoms. CT was used to evaluate the patient's lymphadenopathy. The findings were consistent with PTLD, and an incidental intussusception causing small bowel obstruction was found. The intussusception was successfully managed expectantly, and the patient's PTLD responded to administration of rituximab. The etiology, diagnosis and management of intussusception is discussed.     

Recurrent intussusception in infants

Aim: Clinical features to identify infants at increased risk of recurrence after a primary episode of intussusception (IS) are poorly defined. Methods: Prospective study of the clinical presentation, treatment and outcome in infants <2 years presenting with acute IS to the National Hospital of Pediatrics, Hanoi, over a 14‐month period (1 November 2002 to 31 December 2003). A retrospective review of medical records was performed to verify complete patient ascertainment. Results: Five hundred ninety‐eight children were recruited, including 513 (86%) with a primary episode only and 53 (9%) with ≥1 recurrent episodes. Another 32 (5%) infants presented with recurrent IS, but the primary episode of IS occurred outside the study period. Estimated recurrence risk at 6 months following a primary episode was 14%. A pathological lead point was rare in primary (n= 1) and recurrent IS (n= 1). Most infants were successfully treated with enema reduction. Conclusions: This study describes the natural history of recurrent IS in infants and may assist in interpreting data from post‐marketing surveillance following introduction of rotavirus vaccines.     

Twenty-one cases of small bowel intussusception: the pathophysiology of idiopathic intussusception and the concept of benign small bowel intussusception

Ultrasonography (US) was used to study intussusceptions prospectively at Kiyama Hospital in 1999 and 2000 under the classification of small bowel intussusception (SBI) and large bowel or ileo-ileo-colic intussusception (LBI). The clinical features, management, outcome and etiology were analyzed. All LBIs and SBIs with ischemic symptoms and SBIs complicated by LBI were treated by enema reduction, whereas SBIs considered to be nonischemic were observed. SBI was seen in 21 patients with a mean age of 62.6±31.2 months. Four cases (19.0%) were diagnosed during the course of LBI. US showed mesenteric lymphoid hyperplasia in 15 (71.4%). Hydrostatic enema reduction was successful in 9/9, and SBI reduced naturally in the other 12 (benign SBI). LBI occurred in 38 patients with a mean age of 27.8±21.2 months. Mesenteric lymphoid hyperplasia was observed in 29 (76.3%). Hydrostatic enema reduction was successful in 37/38. SBI occurs more frequently and in a wider age group than previously considered. Many SBIs reduced naturally, suggesting that they were only transient invagination phenomena and should be called benign SBI. The frequent association of SBI with LBI and also the frequent association of mesenteric lymphoid hyperplasia with both SBI and LBI seem the key to the pathophysiology of intussusception.     

Small bowel intussusception in childhood

BACKGROUND: Intussusception is the most common cause of abdominal emergency in early childhood. The majority of cases are ileocolic type of intussusception. Only few reports concerning small bowel intussusception have been reported. PATIENTS AND METHOD: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records and imaging findings of all patients with the diagnosis of intussusception (comparing small bowel intussusception with ileocolic type of intussusception), which were documented by ultrasound in the period April 1997 to January 2001. The routine ultrasound scans included an evaluation of the entire abdomen using sector and linear transducers of high frequency (5 - 7.5 MHz) and power doppler ultrasound. RESULTS: A total of 22 patients with small bowel intussusception (9 female, 13 male) and 29 patients diagnosed to suffer from ileocolic intussusception (10 female, 19 male) were identified and treated. Children with small bowel intussusception were significant older in comparison to children with ileocolic type of intussusception (median age 50 vs. 11 months). In our series the presenting symptoms of patients with small bowel intussusception consisted of abdominal pain (86 %) and vomiting (36 %). The initial clinical symptoms of patients with ileocolic intussusception were abdominal pain (100 %), vomiting (72 %) and/or rectal fresh blood (35 %). Small bowel intussusception was an incidental finding in 3 asymptomatic patients (14 %). Hydrostatic reduction was attempted in 14 % of children with small bowel intussusception (vs. 93 % of children with ileocolic intussusception), one patient needed operative treatment (vs. 21 %). Outcome in all patients was favorable. CONCLUSION: The high percentage of patients with small bowel intussusception observed may relate to increased use of abdominal ultrasound in children presenting with abdominal pain and improvements in resolution and quality of the images. Small bowel intussusceptions in our series were in the majority of cases short-segmented, self-limited and without a lead point. In comparison to patients with ileocolic intussusception the presenting symptoms of small bowel intussusception are less acute.     

Intestinal gamma/delta receptor-bearing T lymphocytes in celiac disease and inflammatory bowel diseases in children. Constant increase in celiac disease

We studied the numbers of T-cell receptor alpha/beta- and gamma/delta-bearing lymphocytes in 27 jejunal specimens from 19 celiac patients, 27 rectal and colonic specimens from 14 ulcerative colitis patients and four patients with Crohn's disease, and 24 control specimens. MAb and a three-layer peroxidase staining method were used. Only low numbers of gamma/delta + cells were seen in normal jejunum and rectum of controls, as well as in the specimens of patients with inflammatory bowel diseases. In the lamina propria of celiac patients, the mean number of gamma/delta + cells was significantly higher than in the controls before treatment, during gluten-free diet, and after the gluten challenge. Within the jejunal epithelium, the number of gamma/delta + cells was elevated before and during gluten elimination and after the challenge test. The absolute number of intraepithelial gamma/delta + cells remained constant during gluten elimination and provocation. We infer that the constantly elevated population of gamma/delta + T cells in the epithelium of celiac patients may play an important role in the pathogenesis of celiac disease.     

Radiological evidence of bowel obstruction in intussusception

Several criteria have been proposed to identify patients likely to be at risk from barium reduction of intussusception, those with a high probability of having a pathological lead point, and those in whom an enema is unlikely to be successful. Signs of peritonitis and septicaemia are regarded as absolute contraindications to attempted barium reduction of intussusception, but as yet the radiological appearance of small bowel obstruction per se has not been substantiated as a contraindication. The presence of small bowel obstruction indicates that therapeutic reduction is less likely to be successful than in patients with normal or nonspecific plain radiographs (31% vs 57%) but is not in itself an indication that the examination would be unsafe. Patients with small bowel obstruction are acceptable risks for safe and successful therapeutic enemas, provided there is no clinical evidence of gangrenous bowel. Offprint requests to: J. de Campo     

Nutrition and celiac disease

Celiac disease affects about 1% of the European and North American population. The classical clinical presentation is with symptoms of malabsorption. Serologic studies demonstrate that most celiac patients present with oligosymptomatic (silent), latent, potential, and extraintestinal forms. The disease is defined as an immune-mediated systemic disorder of genetically disposed individuals (HLA-DQ2/8) induced by the alcohol-soluble fractions of cereals and characterized by gluten-dependent symptoms, celiac-specific antibodies (against tissue transglutaminase 2), and a Marsh 2-3 enteropathy. In the last 60 years, a strict and lifelong gluten-free diet has been demonstrated to be effective and safe, preventing most potential complications of the disease, including autoimmune disease, osteoporosis, infertility, prematurity, and malignancy. Among patients with celiac disease, the toxicity of oats seems to be less than wheat, barley, and rye. The introduction of oats into the diet of patients with celiac disease should increase taste, fiber content, diversity, compliance with the diet, and quality of life. The clinical studies provide limited results in favor of a general harmlessness of oats for celiac disease patients. Patients with celiac disease who consume oats (20-25 g/d for children, 50-70 g/d for adults) need proper follow-up.     

Rare presentation of small bowel intussusception in childhood

Small bowel intussusception complicated simultaneously by volvulus in an older child is rare but clinically significant, necessitating urgent operative management. We report a local case of jejuno‐jejunal intussusception complicated by volvulus and bowel infarction in a 9‐year‐old Chinese girl, with diagnosis made on preoperative computed tomography and confirmed at laparotomy. An intestinal polyp as the lead point for intussusception was identified operatively.     

Recurrent ileocolic intussusception after different surgical procedures in children

Intussusception in children may recur after surgical correction. Ileopexy has popularly been used as a procedure to prevent recurrent intussusception, but its effect has not been well evaluated. The present study compared the incidence of recurrent intussusception after several different surgical procedures for intussusception in children. The charts of 278 children undergoing surgical reduction of ileocolic intussusception over 17 years were retrospectively reviewed. The incidence of recurrent intussusception was compared among the three surgical procedures: simple manual reduction, manual reduction plus ileopexy, and segmental resection. Simple manual reduction was performed in 67 (24.1%) of the 278 patients, manual reduction plus ileopexy in 186 (66.9%), and resection of the involved segment in 25 (9.0%). There were four episodes of recurrence in three (4%) patients who had had manual reduction, nine episodes in eight (4%) patients who had undergone ileopexy, and none after segmental resection. There was no statistical difference in recurrent rate among the three groups (reduction vs. ileopexy, P = 0.95; reduction vs. resection, P = 0.28; ileopexy vs. resection, P = 0.29). Ileopexy is not better than simple manual reduction in preventing recurrence of ileocolic intussusception in children.