This guideline provides recommendations for the diagnosis and management of suspected cow's-milk protein allergy (CMPA) in Europe. It presents a practical approach with a diagnostic algorithm and is ...based on recently published evidence-based guidelines on CMPA.
If CMPA is suspected by history and examination, then strict allergen avoidance is initiated. In certain circumstances (eg, a clear history of immediate symptoms, a life-threatening reaction with a positive test for CMP-specific IgE), the diagnosis can be made without a milk challenge. In all other circumstances, a controlled oral food challenge (open or blind) under medical supervision is required to confirm or exclude the diagnosis of CMPA.
In breast-fed infants, the mother should start a strict CMP-free diet. Non-breast-fed infants with confirmed CMPA should receive an extensively hydrolyzed protein-based formula with proven efficacy in appropriate clinical trials; amino acids-based formulae are reserved for certain situations. Soy protein formula, if tolerated, is an option beyond 6 months of age. Nutritional counseling and regular monitoring of growth are mandatory in all age groups requiring CMP exclusion. REEVALUATION: Patients should be reevaluated every 6 to 12 months to assess whether they have developed tolerance to CMP. This is achieved in >75% by 3 years of age and >90% by 6 years of age. Inappropriate or overly long dietary eliminations should be avoided. Such restrictions may impair the quality of life of both child and family, induce improper growth, and incur unnecessary health care costs.
Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) represents a chronic, immune/antigen-mediated esophageal disease characterized clinically by symptoms related to esophageal dysfunction and histologically by ...eosinophil-predominant inflammation. With few exceptions, 15 eosinophils per high-power field (peak value) in ≥1 biopsy specimens are considered a minimum threshold for a diagnosis of EoE. The disease is restricted to the esophagus, and other causes of esophageal eosinophilia should be excluded, specifically proton pump inhibitor-responsive esophageal eosinophilia. This position paper aims at providing practical guidelines for the management of children and adolescents with EoE.
Relevant literature from searches of PubMed, CINAHL, and recent guidelines was reviewed. In the absence of an evidence base, recommendations reflect the expert opinion of the authors. Final consensus was obtained during 3 face-to-face meetings of the Gastroenterology Committee and 1 teleconference.
The cornerstone of treatment is an elimination diet (targeted or empiric elimination diet, amino acid-based formula) and/or swallowed, topical corticosteroids. Systemic corticosteroids are reserved for severe symptoms requiring rapid relief or where other treatments have failed. Esophageal dilatation is an option in children with EoE who have esophageal stenosis unresponsive to drug therapy. Maintenance treatment may be required in case of frequent relapse, although an optimal regimen still needs to be determined.
EoE is a chronic, relapsing inflammatory disease with largely unquantified long-term consequences. Investigations and treatment are tailored to the individual and must not create more morbidity for the patient and family than the disease itself. Better maintenance treatment as well as biomarkers for assessing treatment response and predicting long-term complications is urgently needed.
Children and adolescents with Crohn’s disease (CD) present often with a more complicated disease course compared to adult patients. In addition, the potential impact of CD on growth, pubertal and ...emotional development of patients underlines the need for a specific management strategy of pediatric-onset CD. To develop the first evidenced based and consensus driven guidelines for pediatric-onset CD an expert panel of 33 IBD specialists was formed after an open call within the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation and the European Society of Pediatric Gastroenterolog, Hepatology and Nutrition. The aim was to base on a thorough review of existing evidence a state of the art guidance on the medical treatment and long term management of children and adolescents with CD, with individualized treatment algorithms based on a benefit-risk analysis according to different clinical scenarios. In children and adolescents who did not have finished their growth, exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) is the induction therapy of first choice due to its excellent safety profile, preferable over corticosteroids, which are equipotential to induce remission. The majority of patients with pediatric-onset CD require immunomodulator based maintenance therapy. The experts discuss several factors potentially predictive for poor disease outcome (such as severe perianal fistulizing disease, severe stricturing/penetrating disease, severe growth retardation, panenteric disease, persistent severe disease despite adequate induction therapy), which may incite to an anti-TNF-based top down approach. These guidelines are intended to give practical (whenever possible evidence-based) answers to (pediatric) gastroenterologists who take care of children and adolescents with CD; they are not meant to be a rule or legal standard, since many different clinical scenario exist requiring treatment strategies not covered by or different from these guidelines.
Pediatric ulcerative colitis (UC) shares many features with adult-onset disease but there are some unique considerations; therefore, therapeutic approaches have to be adapted to these particular ...needs. We aimed to formulate guidelines for managing UC in children based on a systematic review (SR) of the literature and a robust consensus process. The present article is a product of a joint effort of the European Crohn's and Colitis Organization (ECCO) and the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (ESPGHAN).
A group of 27 experts in pediatric IBD participated in an iterative consensus process including 2 face-to-face meetings, following an open call to ESPGHAN and ECCO members. A list of 23 predefined questions were addressed by working subgroups based on a SR of the literature.
A total of 40 formal recommendations and 68 practice points were endorsed with a consensus rate of at least 89% regarding initial evaluation, how to monitor disease activity, the role of endoscopic evaluation, medical and surgical therapy, timing and choice of each medication, the role of combined therapy, and when to stop medications. A management flowchart, based on the Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Activity Index (PUCAI), is presented.
These guidelines provide clinically useful points to guide the management of UC in children. Taken together, the recommendations offer a standardized protocol that allows effective, timely management and monitoring of the disease course, while acknowledging that each patient is unique.
Primary gastrointestinal neuropathies are a heterogeneous group of enteric nervous system (ENS) disorders that continue to cause difficulties in diagnosis and histological interpretation. Recently, ...an international working group published guidelines for histological techniques and reporting, along with a classification of gastrointestinal neuromuscular pathology. The aim of this article was to review and summarize the key issues for pediatric gastroenterologists on the diagnostic workup of congenital ENS disorders. In addition, we provide further commentary on the continuing controversies in the field.
Although the diagnostic criteria for Hirschsprung disease are well established, those for other forms of dysganglionosis remain ill-defined. Appropriate tissue sampling, handling, and expert interpretation are crucial to maximize diagnostic accuracy and reduce interobserver variability. The absence of validated age-related normal values for neuronal density, along with the lack of correlation between clinical and histological findings, result in significant diagnostic uncertainties while diagnosing quantitative aberrations such as hypoganglionosis or ultrashort Hirschsprung disease. Intestinal neuronal dysplasia remains a histological description of unclear significance.
The evaluation of cellular quantitative or qualitative abnormalities of the ENS for clinical diagnosis remains complex. Such analysis should be carried out in laboratories that have the necessary expertise and access to their own validated reference values.
The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is steadily in the rise in Western as well as in developing countries paralleling the increase of westernized diets, characterized by high protein ...and fat as well as excessive sugar intake, with less vegetables and fiber. An interesting hypothesis is that environmental (food-) triggered changes of the intestinal microbiome might cause a proinflammatory state preceding the development of IBD. Indeed, an intact intestinal epithelial barrier assuring a normal bacterial clearance of the intestinal surface is crucial to guarantee intestinal homeostasis. Any factors affecting the epithelial barrier function directly or indirectly may impact on this homeostasis, as well as any changes of the intestinal microbial composition. It is intriguing to learn that some frequently used food components impact on the quality of the intestinal barrier, as well as on the composition of the intestinal microbiome. This highlights the close interaction between living conditions, hygiene, food habits and food quality with the bacterial composition of the intestinal microbiome and the activation status of the intestinal immune system. There is clear evidence that nutritional therapy is highly successful in the treatment of Crohn’s disease (CD). Exclusive enteral nutrition is well established as induction therapy of CD. New diets, such as a CD exclusion diet or defined diets (specific carbohydrate diets, FODMAP diet, Paleolithic diet) are being discussed as treatment options for IBD. Well-designed clinical trials in IBD are urgently required to define the precise role of each of these diets in the prevention or management of IBD. Up to now, the role of diet in IBD is highly undermined by lay and anecdotal reports without sufficient scientific proof.
Abstract
Objective
We aimed to provide an evidence-supported update of the ECCO-ESPGHAN guideline on the medical management of paediatric Crohn’s disease CD.
Methods
We formed 10 working groups and ...formulated 17 PICO-structured clinical questions Patients, Intervention, Comparator, and Outcome. A systematic literature search from January 1, 1991 to March 19, 2019 was conducted by a medical librarian using MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central databases. A shortlist of 30 provisional statements were further refined during a consensus meeting in Barcelona in October 2019 and subjected to a vote. In total 22 statements reached ≥ 80% agreement and were retained.
Results
We established that it was key to identify patients at high risk of a complicated disease course at the earliest opportunity, to reduce bowel damage. Patients with perianal disease, stricturing or penetrating behaviour, or severe growth retardation should be considered for up-front anti-tumour necrosis factor TNF agents in combination with an immunomodulator. Therapeutic drug monitoring to guide treatment changes is recommended over empirically escalating anti-TNF dose or switching therapies. Patients with low-risk luminal CD should be induced with exclusive enteral nutrition EEN, or with corticosteroids when EEN is not an option, and require immunomodulator-based maintenance therapy. Favourable outcomes rely on close monitoring of treatment response, with timely adjustments in therapy when treatment targets are not met. Serial faecal calprotectin measurements or small bowel imaging ultrasound or magnetic resonance enterography are more reliable markers of treatment response than clinical scores alone.
Conclusions
We present state-of-the-art guidance on the medical treatment and long-term management of children and adolescents with CD.
Summary
Background Nutritional therapy has an established role as induction therapy in paediatric Crohn’s disease. However, compliance is the main difficulty and may be greatly influenced by the ...administration route.
Aim To analyse the efficiency of exclusive nutrition to induce remission in children with Crohn’s disease comparing fractionated oral vs. continuous enteral feeding.
Methods The medical records of 106 patients treated by exclusive nutritional therapy Modulen IBD (R) by either oral or continuous enteral route were reviewed retrospectively. Comparative analyses of remission rates, changes in anthropometry, Paediatric Crohn’s disease Activity Index (PCDAI), laboratory indices and compliance rates were performed.
Results On exclusive enteral nutrition, at 8 weeks, 34/45 patients achieved remission in the oral group (75% on intention‐to‐treat analysis) and 52/61 (85%) in the enteral nutrition group (P = 0.157). All patients showed a significant decrease in disease severity assessed by PCDAI (P < 0.0001) and significant improvements in anthropometric measures and inflammatory indices. No difference was observed whether Modulen IBD was administered orally or by continuous enteral feeding, apart from weight gain, which was greater in the enteral group (P = 0.041). In a subgroup of patients, mucosal healing was evidenced on follow‐up endoscopies showing a clear correlation to remission. Compliance rates (87% and 90%) were similar. Nevertheless, noncompliant patients had lower mucosal healing and remission rates.
Conclusions These retrospective data suggest that the use of fractionated oral nutritional therapy might be as efficacious as continuous enteral administration to induce remission and mucosal healing in children with Crohn’s disease. However, appropriate prospective clinical trials are needed to confirm these findings.
The contemporary management of ambulatory ulcerative colitis (UC) continues to be challenging with ∼20% of children needing a colectomy within childhood years. We thus aimed to standardize daily ...treatment of pediatric UC and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD)-unclassified through detailed recommendations and practice points.
These guidelines are a joint effort of the European Crohn's and Colitis Organization (ECCO) and the Paediatric IBD Porto group of European Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN). An extensive literature search with subsequent evidence appraisal using robust methodology was performed before 2 face-to-face meetings. All 40 included recommendations and 86 practice points were endorsed by 43 experts in Paediatric IBD with at least an 88% consensus rate.
These guidelines discuss how to optimize the use of mesalamine (including topical), systemic and locally active steroids, thiopurines and, for more severe disease, biologics. The use of other emerging therapies and the role of surgery are also covered. Algorithms are provided to aid therapeutic decision-making based on clinical assessment and the Paediatric UC Activity Index (PUCAI). Advice on contemporary therapeutic targets incorporating the use of calprotectin and the role of therapeutic drug monitoring are presented, as well as other management considerations around pouchitis, extraintestinal manifestations, nutrition, growth, psychology, and transition. A brief section on disease classification using the PIBD-classes criteria and IBD-unclassified is also part of these guidelines.
These guidelines provide a guide to clinicians managing children with UC and IBD-unclassified management to provide modern management strategies while maintaining vigilance around appropriate outcomes and safety issues.
Background & Aims
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The mechanism of intraepithelial lymphocyte hyperplasia, a hallmark of celiac disease, is unknown. We have investigated the role of epithelium-derived interleukin (IL)-15 in the ...alterations of epithelial homeostasis in refractory celiac sprue, a privileged situation to study the first step of lymphoid transformation and the contribution of intraepithelial lymphocytes to villous atrophy in celiac disease.
Methods
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IL-15 expression was assessed in biopsy specimens and isolated enterocytes by combining immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry, and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The ability of IL-15 to induce growth and survival of clonal intraepithelial lymphocytes lacking surface CD3 and to induce their cytotoxicity and secretion of interferon gamma was tested using soluble IL-15 and coculture in the presence of epithelial cell lines expressing membrane IL-15.
Results
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IL-15 was massively overexpressed not only in lamina propria but also in the intestinal epithelium of patients with active celiac disease and refractory celiac sprue. IL-15 was not secreted but delivered at the surface of enterocytes. IL-15 specifically induced the expansion and survival of the clonal abnormal intraepithelial lymphocytes that characterize refractory celiac sprue and triggered their secretion of interferon gamma and their cytotoxicity against intestinal epithelial cells. Comparable activating signals could be delivered by IL-15 expressed at the membrane of the T84 enterocyte cell line.
Conclusions
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These data provide strong evidence that uncontrolled overexpression of IL-15 in refractory celiac sprue perpetuates epithelial damage and promotes the emergence of T-cell clonal proliferations. Blocking IL-15 might prove useful to treat this severe complication of celiac disease.
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