Fat absorption in congenital obstructive liver disease.

Glasgow, J. F. T., Hamilton, J. R., and Sass-Kortsak, A. (1973). Archives of Disease in Childhood, 48, 601. Fat absorption in congenital obstructive liver disease. Fat absorption was impaired in 11 of 15 children with congenital obstructive liver disease. Lecithin administered by mouth to 7 patients failed to improve fat absorption. Proximal intestinal contents sampled during digestion of a standard fat-containing meal showed impaired solubilization of lipid in the aqueous phase, which reflected the severity of the steatorrhoea. There was a close positive correlation between the degree of fat solubilization and the luminal concentration of bile salts. A proportion of dietary fat was solubilized and absorbed even in the absence of detectable bile salts. This study underlines the importance both of bile salts in normal assimilation of fat and of alternative absorptive pathways in biliary obstruction.