Postpyloric Feeding Access in Infants and Children: A State of the Art Review.

Achieving postpyloric feeding access is a clinical challenge faced by the pediatric gastroenterologist in everyday practice. Currently, there is limited literature published on the topic. This article provides a practical summary of the literature on the different methods utilized to achieve postpyloric feeding access including bedside, fluoroscopic, endoscopic and surgical options. Indications and complications of these methods are discussed as well as a general approach to infants and children that require intestinal feeding.

Minocycline-Induced Autoimmune Hepatitis: A Rare But Important Cause of Drug-Induced Autoimmune Hepatitis.

Drug-induced autoimmune hepatitis (DIAIH) is an increasingly recognized form of drug-induced liver injury that leads to a condition similar to idiopathic autoimmune hepatitis. A number of drugs have been associated with DIAIH, minocycline is one of the most well characterized. Minocycline is a semisynthetic tetracycline antibiotic used in the treatment of acne vulgaris. Minocycline-induced autoimmune hepatitis presents with serologic and histologic features similar to idiopathic autoimmune hepatitis. However, the natural history and outcomes of these two conditions differ significantly. The majority of patients with minocycline-induced autoimmune hepatitis experience complete resolution of symptoms after withdrawal of the medication. Some patients may require a short course of steroids and rarely use of an immunomodulator to achieve resolution of disease. Recurrence of symptoms is rare and typically only occurs with reintroduction of minocycline. It is important for primary care providers to consider minocycline-induced autoimmune hepatitis when liver injury develops during minocycline therapy.

Clostridium Difficile, Colitis, and Colonoscopy: Pediatric Perspective.

PURPOSE OF THE REVIEW: Review tests available for detection of Clostridium difficile (C. Diff) induced disease, including when such tests should be done in children and how they should be interpreted. RECENT FINDINGS: Multiple tests are available for detecting disease due to C. diff. These include colonoscopy and stool analysis. Colonoscopy with biopsy is the most sensitive test for detecting the presence of colitis. The toxins produced by the C. diff. (toxin A, toxin B, and binary toxin) are the agents that cause injury and disease. Only toxin producing C. diff. Strains will cause disease. Binary toxin by itself is not thought to produce disease. Binary toxin causes disease in humans when present with toxin A and B producing bacteria, and has been implicated with fulminant life threatening disease. Stool analyses vary in sensitivity and specificity depending on the assay used. The presence of toxin producing strains of C diff. in the stool does not equate with disease. The presence of a toxin-producing bacteria or toxins (A or B) only equates with disease if diarrhea or a diseased colon (toxic megacolon, ileus, and sepsis) is present. Nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT), when used in the stool from patients with diarrhea, appears to be the most efficient study to detect the gene that encodes for toxin A and B and thus to diagnose C. diff.-induced disease. Infants have a high carriage rate of C. diff. and are believed not to develop disease from it or its toxins. Infants should not be tested for C. difficile. The NAAT is most specific when done on patients with diarrhea with liquid stools. Testing for C. difficile should only be done on patients with diarrhea. One can assume that a patient who has no diarrhea and is not ill does not have C. diff.-induced disease. Treatment should be limited to patients with diarrhea who test positive for C. diff. toxin (A or B) or toxin-producing bacteria. Direct testing for binary toxin is not commercially available. Binary toxin is only thought to cause disease in humans when C. diff. toxin (A and B)-producing bacteria are present.

Perisigmoid Abscess Leading to a Diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Type IV.

The Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) are a group of connective tissue disorders characterized by triad of joint hypermobility, skin extensibility, and tissue fragility. Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type IV places patients at risk for life-threatening, spontaneous, vascular or visceral rupture due to reduced or abnormal secretion of type III collagen. We present an adolescent male who was found to have a perisigmoid abscess with a fistula connecting to adjacent sigmoid colon secondary to undiagnosed EDS type IV. Conservative management with antibiotics and bowel rest was pursued to allow for elective resection for his acute complicated diverticulitis at a safer time.