Non-Helicobacter pylori Gastric Intestinal Metaplasia in Children: A Series of Cases and Review of the Literature.

In the pediatric population, Gastric Intestinal Metaplasia (GIM) is a finding with unknown frequency and, more importantly, unknown clinical implications. The relationship between Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection and GIM is well documented, as well as an association between duodenogastric reflux and GIM. We present two cases of pediatric patients with GIM along with a review of the literature. The diagnosis of GIM may have adverse clinical implications and should be made with caution in a child. The association of GIM and adenoma/dysplasia and carcinoma is rarely seen in children, primarily because the time required for these to develop takes the individual into adulthood. Treatment, long-term consequences, and surveillance protocols are not well established in the pediatric population. Studies to evaluate the long-term natural history, treatment, and surveillance protocols in children with GIM are needed.

Eosinophilic esophagitis -- a mimic of GERD.

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EE) is characterized by eosinophilic infiltration of the esophageal mucosa and results in clinical signs and symptoms that may be indistinguishable from those of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). While demographic, clinical, and endoscopic features may be suggestive of EE, esophageal biopsy with tissue eosinophils averaging 24 per 400 x microscopic field remains the most specific diagnostic criterion. Previously rare, EE has been diagnosed in adults and children with increased frequency over the last decade; it appears to be a chronic disease and has a yearly incidence approximating 1:10,000 in the pediatric population. Dietary and respiratory antigen exposure with subsequent production of inflammatory chemokines is essential for development of EE in animal models of the disease. In humans, glucocorticoids and elimination of relevant dietary antigens have proved efficacious treatments for EE, resolving the disease at the mucosal level. Other therapies, including montelukast, partial dietary elimination, and bouginage have reduced symptoms without affecting mucosal inflammation. Evidence-based guidelines for the management of EE are not currently available. Current medical practice involving the management of reflux merits awareness and understanding of this emerging mimic. We present a review of the current understanding of this disorder.

Identifying youth nonadherence in clinical settings: data-based recommendations for children and adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease.

BACKGROUND: To examine the validity of patient self-report of thiopurine adherence in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) against an objective electronic monitoring adherence measure, and to investigate the role of youth and maternal involvement in remembering to take daily medications as predictors of medication adherence. METHODS: Fifty-one youths with IBD, ages 11-18 years, participated. Youths completed questionnaire assessments of their own and their maternal caregiver's involvement in remembering to take daily medications at baseline, completed monthly interviews assessing thiopurine adherence over the past week for a period of 6 months, and utilized a Medication Events Monitoring System (MEMS) electronic monitor for their thiopurine medication for 6 months. Participants were grouped into adherent (at least 80% of doses taken based on objective MEMS caps) or nonadherent for analyses. RESULTS: Youths who were nonadherent based on electronic monitoring overestimated their adherence by 23%, whereas adherent youths overestimated their adherence by only 2%, and as such patient self-report offered little utility in identifying youths who were nonadherent. Youths who reported high levels of involvement in remembering to take their medications were nearly eight times less likely to be nonadherent. CONCLUSIONS: The current findings provide evidence that clinicians who work with children and adolescents with IBD may benefit from modifying their approach to nonadherence screening. Asking about youth involvement in remembering daily medications may be more informative than asking them to recall their medication-taking behavior over the last week in identifying those at highest risk for nonadherence.