Cow's milk allergy: a study of 15 cases

ABSTRACT

Cows milk allergy [CMA] is a frequent disorder in infancy. The aim of this report is to describe the wide range of symptoms and underline particular aspects. We studied retrospectively 15 cases of CMA collected beetwen 1998 and 2003 in Medecine infantile A service. 15 infants had CMA. They were 10 boys and 5 girls, aged 15 days to 6 months. Sixpatients had a positive familial history of atopy. Patients were given cow milk by the mean age of 24 days [birth, 3 months]. Symptoms were urticaria [n=3], rectal bleeding [n=5] associated to diarrhoea and to haematemesis [n=3], and chronic diarrhoea [n=7]. Ten patients have various symptoms atopic dermatitis [n=4], gastroesophageal reflux [n=3], two of them have esophagitis, gastritis [n=3], and recurrent wheeze [n=3]. 14 infants received extensively hydrolysed formula, and one patient requires amino acid based formula. Six patients required specific nutrition continuious enteral nutrition [n=3], and parenteral nutrition [n=3]. All patients tolerated cow's milk protein by the mean delay of 17 months [11 to 32 months]