[Home-coming diarrhea. Presentation of a clinical case]. / Diarrea di ritorno. Presentazione di un caso clinico.

The Homing Diarrhea, described by Duhamel and Rey in 1980, represents a gastrointestinal disease which affects children of emigrants coming back from a trip to their country of origin and may become so serious to cause death secondary to dehydration or septicemia. The poor nutritional conditions at the beginning of the trip (secondary to low socioeconomic situation) and the onset of acute enteritis during the travel, caused by Salmonella or Shigella, E. Coli, Campylobacter, Myceti, Giardia Lamblia, Rotavirus, are considered the main and triggering factors of the homing diarrhea. Intensive care can be necessary to interrupt the sequence constituted by diarrhea-malnutrition-dehydration. Therefore prophylaxis, including good basal nutritional conditions and the use of p.o. glucose-electrolyte solutions at the beginning of the acute enteric episode appears to be the most effective measure to prevent the onset of the disease. A case of homing diarrhea is reported.

[Endoscopic study in the diagnosis of nodular lymphoid hyperplasia of the colon in childhood]. / L'indagine endoscopica nella diagnosi di iperplasia nodulare linfoide del colon in età pediatrica.

Colonic lymphoid hyperplasia has been diagnosed in 10 children, aged from 11 months to 12 years, with heterogeneous clinical symptoms such as rectal bleeding, abdominal pain, chronic diarrhea and constipation. The Authors underline the value of endoscopy in the diagnosis of colonic lymphoid hyperplasia which also permitted to exclude other colonic diseases often misdiagnosed by double contrast barium enema (familial polyposis, lymphoid polyps, Crohn's disease, Ulcerative colitis). In This study the Authors discuss the probable etiopathogenetic mechanisms and the prognosis of colonic lymphoid hyperplasia: it should be considered as a benign conditions reflecting a non-specific response to different stimuli.

[Use of oral bacteria therapy in childhood during acute enteritis and functional chronic diarrhea. Clinical experience]. / L'uso della batterioterapia orale in età pediatrica in corso di enterite acuta e di diarrea cronica funzionale. Esperienza clinica.

There are some theoretical reasons to give an oral bacterial therapy when intestinal ecosystem changes its composition. The authors would verify the clinical effectiveness or oral bacterial therapy during acute and functional chronic diarrhea: even if the course of the illness doesn't become shorter, oral bacterial therapy moreover may be useful in reducing the risk of having casual carries of pathogenic agents and may restore an intestinal ecosystem previously modified by antibiotic therapy.