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.     

Cardiac rhabdomyomata and megacystis-microcolon-intestinal hypoperistalsis syndrome.

Multiple cardiac rhabdomyomata were discovered on necropsy tissue review of a previously well child with megacystis-microcolon-intestinal hypoperistalsis syndrome, who died unexpectedly at home at 40 months of age. Multiple cardiac rhabdomyomata occur rarely and have not previously been reported with this syndrome. They are most frequently associated with tuberous sclerosis. The finding of multiple cardiac rhabdomyomata in this patient suggests the possibility that these two rare conditions may be associated. Putative gene loci for tuberous sclerosis have been assigned to the long arms of chromosomes 9 and 11 and it is possible that the cardiac rhabdomyomata seen in this patient are a serendipitous indicator of the location of the megacystis-microcolon-intestinal hypoperistalsis gene.     

The radiologic and endoscopic investigation and etiologic classification of gastritis in children

In 11 children the endoscopic criteria for gastritis were correlated with radiologic and pathological findings. An etiologic classification is proposed. The diagnoses included gastric involvement by Crohn's disease (five children), eosinophilic gastroenteritis (one), diffuse varioliform gastritis (two), erosive gastritis associated with Campylobacter pylori infection (two) and idiopathic erosive gastritis (one). Eight of the nine double-contrast barium studies and only one of the three single-contrast examinations correlated with the endoscopic and histologic findings. In 10 children the endoscopic results correlated well with the biopsy findings.     

Injurious mechanical ventilation and end-organ epithelial cell apoptosis and organ dysfunction in an experimental model of acute respiratory distress syndrome

Context  Recent clinical trials have demonstrated a decrease in multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and mortality in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) treated with a protective ventilatory strategy. Objective  To examine the hypothesis that an injurious ventilatory strategy may lead to end-organ epithelial cell apoptosis and organ dysfunction. Design and Setting  In vivo animals: 24 rabbits with acid-aspiration lung injury were ventilated with injurious or noninjurious ventilatory strategies. In vitro: rabbit epithelial cells were exposed to plasma from in vivo rabbit studies. In vivo human: plasma samples from patients included in a previous randomized controlled trial examining a lung protective strategy were analyzed (lung protection group, n = 9 and controls, n = 11). Main Outcome Measures  In vivo animals: biochemical markers of liver and renal dysfunction; apoptosis in end organs. In vitro: induction of apoptosis in LLC-RK1 renal tubular epithelial cells. In vivo human: correlation of plasma creatinine and soluble Fas ligand. Results  The injurious ventilatory strategy led to increased rates of epithelial cell apoptosis in the kidney (mean [SE]: injurious, 10.9% [0.88%]; noninjurious, 1.86% [0.17%]; P<.001) and small intestine villi (injurious, 6.7% [0.66%]; noninjurious, 0.97% [0.14%]; P<.001), and led to the elevation of biochemical markers indicating renal dysfunction in vivo. Induction of apoptosis was increased in LLC-RK1 cells incubated with plasma from rabbits ventilated with injurious ventilatory strategy at 4 hours (P = .03) and 8 hours (P = .002). The Fas:Ig, a fusion protein that blocks soluble Fas ligand, attenuated induction of apoptosis in vitro. There was a significant correlation between changes in soluble Fas ligand and changes in creatinine in patients with ARDS (R = 0.64, P = .002). Conclusions  Mechanical ventilation can lead to epithelial cell apoptosis in the kidney and small intestine, accompanied by biochemical evidence of organ dysfunction. This may partially explain the high rate of MODS observed in patients with ARDS and the decrease in morbidity and mortality in patients treated with a lung protective strategy.      

Pathological features of multiple endocrine neoplasia type IIb in childhood

The features of two patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type IIb are described. Patient 1, a 9-year-old boy with marfanoid features, presented with chronic constipation and failure to thrive since infancy. Patient 2, a 12-year-old boy with marfanoid features, presented with a five-year history of persistent cervical lymphadenopathy. In patient 1, the myenteric and submucosal nerve plexuses at all levels of the small and large intestines were comprised of diffusely disorganized, hyperplastic, mature ganglion cells and nonmyelinated nerve fibers. Nerve plexus dissection with morphometric analysis showed marked thickening of the myenteric plexus with a quantitative increase in neural tissue. Patient 2 had a submucosal neuroma of the tongue. Both patients had occult medullary thyroid carcinoma, and patient 2 had cervical lymph node metastases. Both neoplasms showed positive staining for cytokeratin, carcinoembryonic antigen, calcitonin, bombesin, chromogranin, serotonin, and Leu 7. Electron microscopy showed membrane-bound, intermediate-sized, dense-core neurosecretory granules in tumor cells. In patient 2, calcitonin-positive amyloid was present with localization of calcitonin by immunoelectron microscopy to cytoplasmic secretory granules and to extracellular amyloid fibrils. These cases illustrate the potential for missed or delayed diagnosis in multiple endocrine neoplasia syndromes.     

Infected thymic cyst: an unusual cause of respiratory distress in a child

A 15-month-old male developed acute respiratory distress following a prolonged upper respiratory tract infection. Laboratory and radiological investigations suggested tracheal compression by a malignant anterior mediastinal mass. Following a short course of steroid therapy, urgent exploration of the mediastinum and resection of the mass was carried out; resolution of the airway obstruction was obtained. Histological and bacteriological examination of the lesion revealed it to be a thymic cyst infected by Haemophilus Influenzae with abscess formation. The causes of tracheal compression in childhood are discussed.