Protracted diarrhoea of infancy: evidence in support of an autoimmune variant.

Intestinal goblet cell autoantibody associated enteropathy.

This report describes a case of refractory enteropathy with circulating intestinal goblet cell autoantibodies (IGA). A 19 year old man with hyperthyroidism had suffered from protracted diarrhoea for nearly 10 years. Histological examination showed evidence of collagenous enterocolitis. The diarrhoea did not improve despite fasting under total parenteral nutrition. An immunofluorescence assay de...

Human milk in the management of protracted diarrhoea of infancy.

Eleven of 13 children with the protracted diarrhoea syndrome of infancy were successfully treated with human milk. All the infants, who were severely malnourished, had deteriorated while fed on a wide range of highly modified formulas. Seven infants responded promptly with cessation of weight loss and diarrhoea; in four others, human milk was used to re-establish oral nutrition after a period o...

Protracted diarrhoea in infancy.

A family study of protracted diarrhoea in infancy.

A family study of undiagnosed protracted diarrhoea in infancy was undertaken, based on 67 such patients, seen at The Hospital for Sick Children, London, over a 6-year period. All were fully investigated with the exclusion of those with known cause, such as coeliac disease, cow's milk intolerance, or enteric infections. The families were traced and visited. The material is certainly heterogeneou...

Systemic vasculitis complicating infantile autoimmune enteropathy.

An infant with unexplained sideroblastic anaemia and severe protracted diarrhoea due to autoimmune gut disease is reported. Despite treatment with an exclusion diet and immunosuppressive agents she developed a severe systemic vasculitic illness. Intensive treatment with plasmapheresis resulted in resolution of the vasculitic process but the child subsequently died after overwhelming septicaemia.