Collagenous gastritis in children: A national cohort.

BACKGROUND: Collagen gastritis is a rare disease that manifests in children mainly as isolated gastric involvement associated with martial deficiency anemia. There are no recommendations for the management and follow-up of these patients. We aimed to describe the clinical data, endoscopic findings, and treatments deployed in France's children with collagenous gastritis. METHODS: All French pediatric gastroenterology centers and pediatric centers for rare digestive diseases (Centres de Maladies Rares Digestives) were contacted to collect cases of collagenous gastritis, defined on gastric biopsies and diagnosed before 18 years of age. RESULTS: A total of 12 cases diagnosed (4 males and 8 females) between 1995 and 2022 could be analyzed. The median age at diagnosis was 12.5 years (7-15.2). The most frequent clinical presentation was abdominal pain (6/11) and/or nonspecific symptomatology attributed to anemia (8/10). Anemia was present in all children (11/11; Hb 2.8-9.1 g/dL). Nodular gastritis was present in 10 patients (antrum: 2; fundus: 4; in antrum and fundus: 4). All patients had a basement membrane thickening (from 19 to 100 µm). The treatments received were PPI (11), oral or intravenous martial supplementation (12), budesonide (1), and prednisone (1). Martial supplementation improved anemia in all cases. At discontinuation, nine of 10 patients had a recurrence of anemia. CONCLUSION: Collagenous gastritis is an exceptional condition, clinically manifested in children as abdominal pain and iron deficiency anemia probably of hemorrhagic origin. Patients require long-term follow-up and monitoring of their disease to describe the risk of progression better.

Botulism and hot-smoked whitefish: a family cluster of type E botulism in France, September 2009.

A family cluster of three cases of type E botulism were identified in south-east France in September 2009. The suspected food source of infection was a vacuum packed hot-smoked whitefish of Canadian origin purchased by the family during a visit to Finland and consumed several weeks later in France on the day prior to symptom onset. No leftover fish was available to confirm this hypothesis. Vacuum packed hot-smoked whitefish has previously been associated with cases of type E botulism in multiple countries, including Finland, Germany, the United States and Israel.

[Collagenous gastritis and colitis in a 10-year-old girl]. / Gastrite et colite collagène chez une enfant de 10ans.

There are few data in the literature on microscopic gastritis and colitis in the pediatric population. The diagnosis is often made after the occurrence of complications. We report the case of a 10.5 year-old girl for whom the diagnosis was made several years after the initial symptoms. Test for infections, inflammation, and auto-immunity yielded normal results. Upper endoscopy and colonoscopy revealed an abnormal mucosa. However, histology showed microscopic inflammation and fibrotic lesions in the lamina propria, and a thick subepithelial collagenous band. This led to the diagnosis of collagenous gastritis and colitis. Budesonide treatment resulted in the cessation of diarrhea and significant weight gain. Treatment by oral budesonide indeed seems to be highly effective but relapses are frequent when the treatment is stopped. This case shows the importance of being vigilant regarding transit disorders with impact on growth kinetics. Upper endoscopy and colonoscopy need to be carried out when children have organic diarrhea with normal blood tests.

[Malignant infantile osteopetrosis: Case report of a 5-month-old boy]. / Ostéopétrose maligne infantile : à propos d'un cas chez un nourrisson de 5 mois.

Malignant infantile osteopetrosis is a rare congenital disease characterized by a dysfunction of osteoclasts followed by an abnormal bone densification. We report the case of a 5-month-old infant in whom this disease was suspected because of the clinical (hepatosplenomegaly, gingival hypertrophy), hematological (pancytopenia and hypocalcemia), and radiological criteria (abnormal bone density, periosteal reaction). The genetic investigation confirmed the diagnosis. Compound heterozygous mutations in the CLCN7 gene were identified, including an as yet undescribed mutation. The second mutation had already been described as being responsible for severe and irreversible neurological damage in patients with osteopetrosis. Since this patient presented severely delayed development, he was not eligible for bone marrow transplantation.

[Congenital syphilis: a case report]. / Syphilis congénitale: à propos d'un cas.

Syphilis is a re-emerging infectious disease in Western Europe. Congenital syphilis is a potentially serious pathology affecting newborns of infected mothers. This disease is easily curable by a simple antibiotic treatment. Because of systematic antenatal screening it should no longer exist in industrialized countries. Nevertheless, we report a case of a six-week-old infant with a delayed diagnosis of congenital syphilis. Physicians, especially gynaecologists, obstetricians and paediatricians, have to be vigilant in order to allow for early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of congenital syphilis.