[Intestinal amebiasis in children. I. Etiological study of colonic lesions of the rectosigmoid colon]. / La amebiasis intestinal en el niño. I. Estudio etiológico de las lesiones de colon rectosigmoideo.

A total of 253 children from two months to 12 years old, who had diarrheic or dysenteric syndromes, were studied from the rectosigmoidoscopic and parasitologic points of view. In addition, 112 and 20 of these patients were also studied bacteriologically and virologically, respectively. Only in 28 patients torphozoites of Entamoeba histolytica were found by means of direct microscopic examination, staining techniques and amoebal cultures. Enteropathogenic bacteria were isolated in 41 of the 112 cases examined. No viral particles were detected in the 20 cases studied. From the discussion of these results, the conclusion is reached that the rectosigmoidal mucusal alterations which have been currently considered as suggesting amoebal lessions are not characteristic of invasive intestinal amebiasis in children.

Clinical and histopathological evolution of active chronic hepatitis. / Evolución clínica e histopatológica de la hepatitis crónica activa del niño.

The clinical and histopathological evolution of 7 children with severe chronic active hepatitis and 8 with moderate chronic active hepatitis were studied. The majority (11-15) of the children had a clear past history of acute viral hepatitis. The cases of chronic active hepatitis with a moderate activity had a favorable evolution, but not the cases of severe chronic active hepatitis. Four of them developed into liver cirrhosis, in two the morphological alteration did not improve, and only one case showed a chronic presistent hepatitis.