Neonatal cholestasis in Thai infants.

The objective of this study was to study etiologies and outcome of neonatal cholestasis in Thai infants. The medical records of infants aged less than 3 months with the diagnosis of neonatal cholestasis in Department of Pediatrics, Siriraj Hospital from 1993 to 2004 were retrospectively reviewed. The etiologies were diagnosed by history, physical examination, and proper investigations. There were 252 infants, including 135 males (53.6%) and 117 females (46.4%). The etiologies of cholestasis were idiopathic neonatal hepatitis (INH) 23%, extrahepatic biliary atresia (EHBA) 22.2%, total parenteral nutrition (TPN)-related cholestasis 18.3%, infection 9.9%, endocrine causes 6%, choledochal cyst 5.6%, Down syndrome 4.4%, hemolytic anemia 1.6%, and miscellaneous causes 9.1%, respectively. TPN-related cholestasis was increasingly found due to advance management of critically ill premature infants. Inborn error of metabolism were suspected in 8 patients (3.21%). Seventeen cases (6.7%) developed cholestasis during the first week of life due to hemolytic anemia, intrauterine infection, hypoxia and others. During the 3 month follow-up period, 6 cases died of progressive dysfunction of liver and one case with idiopathic neonatal hepatitis died from intracranial bleeding from vitamin K deficiency. In conclusion, INH and EHBA are the most common causes of neonatal cholestasis. Due to advance management and nutritional support in critically ill premature infants, TPN-related cholestasis is found more often. Inborn error of metabolism related to neonatal cholestases is uncommon in Thai infants. Overall short-term prognosis of neonatal cholestases is good.

Suggestive parameters for eradication therapy in children with Helicobacter pylori gastritis.

The relationship between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and recurrent abdominal pain in children is still controversial. H. pylori-infected children with recurrent abdominal pain generally do not require treatment. However, benefit of treatment has been known to produce dramatic improvements in some patients. Furthermore, H. pylori-infected is associated with growth retardation, iron deficiency anemia and thrombocytopenia. The objective of this study was to find suggestive parameters for eradication of H. pylori gastritis. From 1992 to 2004, medical records of 42 children diagnosed as having H. pylori infection by endoscopy were retrospectively reviewed. Of those 42 patients, there were 36 patients with H. pylori gastritis without gastric or duodenal ulcer (85.7%), and 6 patients with ulcers (14.3%). Children with H. pylori gastritis were divided into 2 groups: responsive and unresponsive. Data including the duration of abdominal pain, endoscopic finding, histology, treatment, outcome and final diagnosis were collected. Additional data were obtained by telephone and letters. Of 36 patients, there were 24 and 12 patients in responsive and unresponsive groups, respectively. Three patients with anemia were all presented in the responsive group. Those experiencing abdominal pain less than 3 months more commonly belonged to the responsive group (P = 0.21). Marked erythema of gastric mucosa was only seen in the responsive group (P = 0.136). All cases of chronic moderate-active gastritis appeared in the responsive group (p = 0.03). In conclusion, iron deficiency anemia and chronic moderate-active gastritis should be the suggestive parameters for eradication therapy in children with H. pylori gastritis.

Hematemesis in infants induced by cow milk allergy.

This study was conducted in order to analyze the clinical manifestations, the endoscopic findings, the histology of the gastrointestinal mucosa, the treatments and the clinical course in infants who had hematemesis induced by cow milk allergy. The medical records were reviewed retrospectively. The criteria for the diagnosis of CMA included elimination of cow milk formula resulting in improvement of symptoms, specific endoscopic and histologic findings as well as the exclusion of other causes. Twenty-three infants with a diagnosis of hematemesis were analyzed, which included 20 infants with CMA and 3 infants with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). In the CMA group were 12 girls and 8 boys whose ages were 4.3 +/- 1.4 months. The onset of vomiting after starting cow milk formulas was 70.6 +/- 48.9 days. Gastroduodenoscopy was performed on 15 patients showing erythema, erosion and friability of the gastric mucosa in all patients and lymphoid hyperplasia in the duodenal bulb in 7 patients. Eight patients had mild to moderate eosinophilic infiltration and 5 patients had eosinophilia. Cow milk formulas were changed to other formulas: two children were initially given extensively hydrolyzed casein formulas and later followed by a soy formula, 14 were given a soy formula and 4 were given partially whey hydrolyzed formulas. All patients showed clinical signs of improvement a few days later. Patients that were able to tolerate cow milk were 1.5 +/- 0.9 years old. During the follow-up period (2.6 +/- 1.8 years after treatment) 4 patients were diagnosed with asthma, 4 patients with chronic respiratory symptoms, 4 patients with constipation and 2 others with food allergies. CMA induced gastritis in infancy may not be classified as eosinophilic gastritis because of the low level of eosinophilic infiltration. The elimination of cow milk and subsequent substitution with a soy formula is the proper management.

Cyclic vomiting syndrome in Thai children.

Cyclic vomiting syndrome (CVS) is a severe childhood vomiting disorder of unknown etiology and pathogenesis. Clinical manifestations and prophylactic therapy of vomiting have been described in the literature. The data were limited in Asian children. The aim of this study was to study the clinical manifestation, to evaluate using antimigraine prophylactic drugs and response in Thai children with CVS. The medical records of children with a diagnosis of CVS in the Department of Pediatrics, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University from 1994 to 2001 were retrospectively reviewed. Demographic data, clinical manifestations, investigations, treatment and outcome were collected and analyzed. Twenty five patients were enrolled in this study including 13 females and 12 males. Their ages ranged from 2.3 years to 14 years (7.8 +/- 3.4 years). The age of onset was 5.2 +/- 3.2 years. They had 14.7 +/- 6.5 episodes per year with a duration of each attack 4 +/- 1.8 days. There were 8 mild, 10 moderate and 7 severe cases. There were only 6 patients (24%) who had headache and 50 per cent of these had a family history of migraine. Eight patients received pizotifen which had 3 good, 1 fair, and 4 poor responses. Of this group, in 3 patients pizotifen was changed to amitriptyline. Eighteen patients received amitriptyline and the result of treatments were 11 good, 4 fair, and 3 poor. The other 2 patients were on propranolol with one good and one poor responses. The efficacy of amitriptyline and pizotifen were compared (83.3% vs 50%) which revealed no statistical significance (p = 0.14). There was no side effect from any of the medication in this study. In conclusion, the present report showed similar data of clinical features, prophylactic treatment and outcome as previous reports, except for fewer migraine headaches in patients and their families. Amitriptyline and pizotifen were effective in prophylactic therapy of vomiting episodes.