[Catamnestic study in 82 patients with unspecified changes in the small intestinal mucosa]

A definitive diagnosis could not be established in 135 out of 713 (19%) infants and children admitted for chronic diarrhea and/or failure to thrive during the first admission. Their mucosal biopsy findings were either normal or showed unspecific changes. A retrospective inquiry, 1 1/2 to 8 years later, into the later course of 82 out of the initial 135 children revealed that 76.5% were free of symptoms without any specific therapy within a short time after discharge. The remaining 19 cases still complained of similar symptoms as initially. In 6 of these patients the indication for further investigations was established. These patients presented already at the time of their first admission with the most severe mucosal alterations (convoluted pattern) and clinical symptoms. Although the majority of patients with mild and non-specific mucosal abnormalities proved to have had a self-limited harmless intestinal disease, in 7,3% of them further investigations during follow-up remain indicated.