[Crohn's disease in children and adolescents]

93 children and adolescents with Crohn's disease have been studied. Terminal ileum (25.8%) and ileum and colon (61.3%) were the most common sites of involvement as determined by X-ray examination. The mean age at the time of diagnosis was 13.2 years. A familial incidence of chronic inflammatory bowel disease was found in 12 patients (12.9%). The most common symptoms were: abdominal pain, anorexia, lassitude, diarrhea, loss of weight. Weight below the third percentile, pain on abdominal palpation, anal lesions, mouth ulcers and clubbing of the fingers were the most common clinical signs at the time of diagnosis. Growth retardation (below the third percentile) was present in 22 of 79 children (27.8%) with a mean follow-up of 40 months. 16 patients out of 75 had initial rectal biopsies with histologic changes characteristic of Crohn's disease. 27 patients had surgical treatment; six of them experienced a relapse within a mean period of 26.7 months. Lastly, the authors show that continuous elemental enteral alimentation (CEEA) during 3 weeks induces a remission. CEEA on a longer period is specially targetted to the treatment of growth retardation.