Reliability, Safety and Effectiveness of the Bravo(TM) Capsule: A Catheter-free pH Monitoring System for Evaluation of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease in Children.

BACKGROUND Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a common problem seen in pediatrics and adolescents. The Bravo™ pH Monitoring System is a capsule that detects and quantifies the severity of reflux disease. This test is also valuable for evaluation of patients with extra-gastrointestinal manifestations of GERD such as asthma, chronic cough, hoarseness, aspiration pneumonia, and pre/post fundoplication surgery.

Evaluation of the triangular cord sign in the diagnosis of biliary atresia.

Background: Infantile cholestasis continues to represent a diagnostic challenge. It is very important to diagnose surgically correctable disorders, such as biliary atresia, in a timely manner to prevent progressive damage to the liver. It has been recently suggested that the triangular cord (TC) sign is a simple and useful tool in the diagnosis of biliary atresia.

Caustic ingestion and foreign bodies in the gastrointestinal system.

Infants and young children commonly explore their environment by placing objects in their mouth. Although accidental ingestion can happen in older children and adolescents, recurrent foreign body ingestion is usually seen in mentally retarded and psychiatric patients. These patients present the primary care physician with a challenge of distinguishing these patients who require intervention from the majority who need observation only.

Omeprazole treatment of children with peptic esophagitis refractory to ranitidine therapy.

Objective: To evaluate the cause of chronic abdominal pain lasting more than 3 weeks in 153 patients aged 6 to 18 years (mean, 9.9 years) who had undergone endoscopy.

Design: Those patients with peptic esophagitis as the cause of their chronic pain were treated with high-dose ranitidine hydrochloride, followed by the proton-pump inhibitor, omeprazole, for those who did not respond to a histamine2-receptor antagonist.

Successful management of ruptured mycotic abdominal aortic aneurysm in a child.

Mycotic aneurysm of the abdominal aorta is a serious disorder that generally carries a grave prognosis. A few survivors have been reported in adults but none in children. This report describes the successful management of ruptured mycotic abdominal aneurysm in a 10-year-old girl.

Toxic megacolon of ulcerative colitis in infancy.

A 12-week-old white male infant with ulcerative colitis and toxic megacolon is described. His diarrhea and rectal bleeding responded to prednisone. He subsequently developed toxic dilatation of the transverse colon while on salicylazosulfapyridine and one week after discontinuation of prednisone.

Effects of alcohol on biliary lipids in the presence of a chronic biliary fistula.

To investigate the effects of alcohol on bile volume and bile composition, dogs with a Thomas cannula and cannulated common ducts were given loading and maintenance doses of alcohol. Bile was analyzed for total bile salts, phospholipids and cholesterol. In dogs with partial interruption of the enterohepatic circulation, alcohol caused significant diminution of volume and outputs of bile salts and cholesterol.