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Query: UMLS:C0024523 (malabsorption)
 7,319 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Blood flow disturbances in the gastrointestinal tract can lead to serious illness. They can be acute or chronic, their cause may be arterial or venous occlusion or hypotonia. Lesions of the gastrointestinal tract caused by ischemia depend on localisation, acuteness and degree of the blood flow disturbance. They may reach from focal and segmental ischemic lesions to extensive necroses of the entire intestinal tubes. The most serious ischemic disease is the embolic and thrombotic occlusion of the arteria mesenterica superior due to previous arterosclerotic damage. Infarction of a large part of the intestines and peritonitis can be the consequence. These patients' only chance of survival is early diagnosis--as a rule exclusively via angiography--and immediate surgery. Chronic occlusion of the arteria mesenterica superior leads to angina abdominalis which mainly occurs after food intake and can last for hours. The reason may also be a general arteriosclerosis. Men are affected more frequently and at a younger age than women. As a consequence of lowered intestinal blood flow these patients suffer from malabsorption and heavy weight loss. Conservative therapy is not effective. These patients, too, will have to be treated surgically after previous angiography. Vascular disease with decreased blood flow as its consequence can be found in a number of inflammatory diseases, in malign hypertensian, in collagen disease and in other more rare diseases as pseudoxanthoma elasticum or Ehlers-Danlos-syndrome. In the case of ischemic colitis arterial and more rarely venous occlusions cause decreased blood flow in the big bowel. A frequent consequence is colitis in the left colon which is characterized by acuteness, pain in the left side of the abdomen and by heavy rectal bleeding. Diagnosis is established by means of endoscopy, barium enema and angiography. Primarily therapy of ischemic colitis is of the conservative type. In severe cases with gangrene and peritonitis the colon has to be resected.
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PMID:[Disorders of the blood circulation in the gastrointestinal tract]. 32 26

Neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis, a highly lethal disorder of premature infants, is a common occurrence in newborn care units. This report details operative experience with 33 infants over the past seven years. During this time many more infants with NNE have recovered with supportive therapy. All patients are treated on a standard protocol of therapy and monitoring designed to select those with signs of continuing clinical deterioration. Therefore, those coming to operation had additional complications, such as perforation, intestinal gangrene or stenosis. This protocol is described. The 33 infants, averaging less than 4 lbs., developed NNE within five days of birth. Perforation and signs of continued clinical deterioration were the indications for operation; severe sepsis and clotting abnormalities were the rule. The overall mortality was 40% but included six infants with total bowel necrosis who had laparotomy alone. Five patients had intestinal or colonic resection with primary anastomosis, with two leaks leading to death. Twenty-one patients had staged resection with delayed anastomosis and only four deaths. Thus 27 determinative cases had a 26% mortality, and the recent group with staged resection had a 19% mortality. The essentials of pre-, intra- and postoperative management are detailed, as well as pathology and bacteriologic data. Most infants had temporary malabsorption requiring parenteral nutrition and special diets. Long-term results are gratifying.
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PMID:Surgical experience with neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis (NNE). 44 13

Five cases presenting in late infancy and childhood with symptoms and signs referable to malrotation of the midgut are described. The condition may present with jaundice, malabsorption or the signs and symptoms of intestinal obstruction due to internal hernia or volvulus. It may also result in volvulus and gangrene of the midgut. A short root of the mesentery predisposing to this event will be seen on a barium meal and follow through examination and will warn of its impending occurrence.
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PMID:The misplaced caecum and the root of the mesentery. 65 37

The diagnosis of malrotation is easily made in the neonatal period, but is often delayed in older patients. Among 82 patients treated for malrotation in this institution, 45 patients presented with symptoms related to their malrotation, seven were diagnosed at exploration for concomitant intrinsic duodenal obstruction, and 30 patients had malrotations discovered as incidental findings at laparotomy or autopsy. Among the 45 symptomatic patients, 25 (56%) underwent surgery in the first month of life, whereas 20 patients (44%) underwent surgery at an older age. In this last group, the mean age at surgery was 51.5 months (range, 2 months to 16 years), the mean age of onset of symptoms was 2 years (range, 0 to 15 years) and the mean delay in diagnosis was 1.7 years. Although bilious vomiting was the presenting symptom among all patients undergoing surgery in the neonatal period, clinical features of older patients included intestinal obstruction (7), chronic abdominal pain (4), malabsorption/diarrhea (3), peritonitis/septic shock (2), solid food intolerance (1), common bile duct obstruction (1), abdominal distention (1), and delayed transit postappendectomy (1). The frequency of midgut volvulus was equal among both groups. Unusual forms of malrotation were more frequent in patients undergoing surgery beyond the neonatal period. In this group there was evidence of chronic venous and lymphatic obstruction with one case of superior mesenteric vein thrombosis and two cases of intestinal gangrene. A Ladd's procedure was performed in all cases and the most frequent postoperative complication was adhesive intestinal obstruction. There were no deaths. Awareness of the unusual presentation in patients who present beyond the neonatal period may help reduce delays in diagnosis and surgical treatment. We believe that laparotomy is indicated in all patients with malrotation, even if they are asymptomatic.
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PMID:Malrotation presenting beyond the neonatal period. 227 27

Bacterial contamination of the small bowel in the elderly can occur without any anatomical defect, but the importance and pathogenesis of this phenomenon are debatable. We describe two such patients, both with profound vitamin B12 deficiency. Clinical recovery took place without specific treatment of the bacterial overgrowth. In one patient with pernicious anemia, malabsorption of xylose and fat was corrected after vitamin B12 therapy. In the other gastric acidity was normal, but unsuspected mesenteric ischemia led to gangrene of the bowel. In old age there may be more than one explanation for vitamin B12 deficiency and for bacterial overgrowth. Vitamin B12 deficiency within the intestinal cells may be one common factor leading to malabsorption.
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PMID:Small bowel contamination and vitamin B12 deficiency in the elderly. 376 May 23

An 81-year-old woman, who, at the age of 5 1/2 years, had undergone a series of operations for gangrene of the ileum, presented in 1983 with acquired megacolon and chronic malabsorption caused by the persistence of a jejunosigmoid fistula for 76 years. Follow-up in this case thus spans 76 years.
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PMID:Sequelae of gangrene of the ileum in childhood. 398 27

Scleroderma or systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a connective tissue disease (CTD) associated with fibrosing and vascular complications involving multiple organs. The care of these patients in the critical care setting is frequently challenging due to multiple complications and refractory organ involvement. However, awareness of specific organ involvement associated with scleroderma can allow many complications to be anticipated and effectively treated. Cardiac involvement can lead to arrhythmias and heart failure, whereas pulmonary involvement can be associated with pulmonary arterial hypertension, fibrosis, or both. Renal vascular disease and scleroderma renal crisis (SRC), once a uniformly fatal complication, is particularly important to recognize early, as it can be treated successfully. Gastrointestinal involvement can lead to bleeding, aspiration, obstruction, and malabsorption. Severe Raynaud may lead to digital ischemia and gangrene. Therapies must target involved organ system or organ systems. Corticosteroids, a mainstay for related CTDs, do not typically provide any benefit and may cause harm. Vasodilators can effectively treat vascular complications but must target the appropriate vascular bed. Proactive utilization of proton pump inhibitors, recognition of bleeding from gastrointestinal vascular ectasia, and nutritional support can considerably ameliorate gastrointestinal morbidities. Effective treatment of fibrotic complications remains elusive and is the current frontier for scleroderma therapeutics.
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PMID:Care of patients with scleroderma in the intensive care setting. 2054 65

Five children with glucose-galactose malabsorption (GGM) are presented. Two infants from Saudi Arabia were first-degree relatives, the third infant was unrelated and the other two were of Yemeni and Syrian origin, respectively. All the infants had chronic diarrhoea and four had failed to thrive since early infancy. All had stools positive for reducing substances, and sugar chromatography showed glucose and galactose malabsorption. Small bowel biopsies were normal in all. One infant developed gangrene of both legs as a complication of hypernatraemia and dehydration, necessitating bilateral amputation. Two infants had nephrolithiasis. All the infants responded well to fructose-based formulae. GGM should be considered in the differential diagnosis of chronic diarrhoea in infants breastfed or artificially fed from early life.
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PMID:Five Arab children with glucose-galactose malabsorption. 2392 85