[Effect of previous breast feeding and early diagnosis on the course of cow's milk protein intolerance]

The clinical course of 21 children with cow's milk protein intolerance (CMPI) who were treated at the Children's Hospital of Zurich during the years of 1963-1977 was analysed in retrospect. Oral cow's milk challenges undertaken 3 weeks after the beginning of the treatment or later did not lengthen the apparent duration of the disease. Children who had initially been breast fed during at least 10 days, and those who were treated within 2 weeks after the appearance of the first symptoms with a cow's milk-free diet presented a milder and shorter course of CMPI. Severely undernourished or dehydrated patients did not differ from others in the course or duration of the disease, and patients with bloody stools showed a less serious but not shorter course of the CMPI.