Sugar absorption in healthy preterm and full-term infants.

We have studied carbohydrate absorption in 40 healthy term infants and 10 preterm neonates (31-35 weeks gestation) by respiratory H2, fecal pH, and chromatographic analysis of stools. Sequential studies of H2 excretion (24-h collection) in response to breast feeding were carried out in premature infants during the first 8 weeks of life. Five expired H2 during the first 2 weeks, and two continued to do so in the 3rd to 4th weeks.

Lactose absorption and malabsorption in healthy Italian children: do the quantity of malabsorbed sugar and the small bowel transit time play roles in symptom production?

Using breath hydrogen analysis after an oral lactose load (2 g/kg; maximum 50 g), we investigated the prevalence of lactose malabsorption in 61 healthy Italian children aged 6-13 years. We also examined the relationship between symptoms and small bowel transit time and the degree of sugar malabsorption. Three of 61 subjects produced no H2 after both lactose and lactulose load and thus were eliminated at the outset.

[Giardiasis in children. Ultrastructural study of the parasite].

Giardia lamblia is the first protozoan to be identified and recognized as an important pathogen in human disease. We studied 8 pediatric patients with giardiasis in order to examine the clinical spectrum, the structural changes of the small intestinal mucosa and mainly the protozoan's ultrastructural features. The most common clinical manifestations were diarrhea, abdominal pain, anorexia, vomiting, failure to thrive.

[Gastrointestinal fiber endoscopy in children: diagnostic and therapeutic contribution].

The diagnostic and therapeutic value of gastrointestinal endoscopy in adults is well established. Our study, performed in pediatric patients confirms its usefulness and emphasises its easy execution and little risk in children. The availability of small caliber fiberendoscopes and the simple medication permit its wide and sure use.