Objectives While gastritis and esophagitis are well studied in children, there is very limited literature on duodenitis in children. We aimed to assess the prevalence, etiology, clinical, endoscopic, and pathological features in a large cohort of unselected children with duodenitis. Methods We reviewed the pathology reports of all upper endoscopies performed at our institution over 5 years to identify children with duodenitis. Biopsy sections were reviewed to confirm the diagnosis of duodenitis. Demographic, clinical, endoscopic data and presence of associated gastritis and esophagitis were noted in all children with duodenitis. Etiology of duodenitis was correlated with the patient's clinical diagnosis. Results Out of 2772 children who had endoscopy, 352 had duodenitis with the prevalence rate of 12.7%. Gastritis was seen in 64% of children with duodenitis compared with 46% of children without duodenitis (P < 0.001). Common indications for endoscopy in children with duodenitis were abdominal pain, positive celiac serology and diarrhea. The most common etiology was celiac disease (32%), followed by Crohn's disease (13%), ulcerative colitis (3%), and Helicobacter pylori infection (6%). In 63% of cases, endoscopic appearance of duodenum was normal. Cryptitis, villous changes and cellular infiltration were noted on histology. Conclusions Prevalence of duodenitis is 12.7% in children undergoing endoscopy. Celiac disease and inflammatory bowel disease are common causes of duodenitis. Associated gastritis is common in children with duodenitis and correlation of endoscopic appearance with histology is poor.

Maternal IBD affects pregnancy and the offspring's immediate and long-term morbidity, specifically, congenital anomalies and neurodevelopmental problems.

Histopathologic lesions of the upper gastrointestinal tract (UGT) are common in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients. Pediatric patients have a higher incidence of IBD-associated gastritis and duodenitis than do adults. This study aimed to identify histopathologic features of duodenal lesions in the pediatric population that are characteristic of IBD, compared to duodenal pathology of different etiopathogenesis. We performed a retrospective analysis of UGT biopsies from pediatric patients with a histopathologic diagnosis of duodenitis (0-18 years of age) over a 7-year period. We identified 40 cases of duodenitis associated with Crohn's disease (CD) and 10 cases associated with ulcerative colitis (UC) and compared the histopathologic characteristics of the duodenitis with age-matched controls consisting of 40 cases duodenitis associated with celiac disease and 40 non-Helicobacter pylori-associated (NOS) etiology duodenitis cases. The histologic features that were evaluated included presence of granulomas, duodenal cryptitis, erosion, lamina propria eosinophils, villous blunting, increased intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs), and crypt hyperplasia, among others. Additionally, we evaluated the presence of associated gastritis in all of these groups. Statistical analysis to identify significant differences was performed using Kruskal-Wallis testing. Cryptitis was the most distinctive feature of IBD-associated duodenitis. Granulomas were exceptionally rare. The severity of villous blunting and presence of IELs was significantly different in the IBD versus the celiac group. There is a significant overlap with duodenal lesions of different etiopathogenesis, including villous blunting and eosinophilia. With the exclusion of granulomas, cryptitis seems the most distinctive feature of the duodenal lesions associated with IBD.

We aimed to examine correlation of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) with diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease and with clinical, endoscopic, histological, and radiographic disease activity during follow-up. We reviewed charts of 135 children with inflammatory bowel disease and correlated their ESR and CRP values with disease activity in various encounters during 5 years. Normal ESR and CRP values were observed in up to 28% of children with Crohn disease and 42% of children with ulcerative colitis at diagnosis, respectively. Correlation of ESR and CRP with Crohn disease clinical, endoscopic, and histologic activity during follow-up depended on their value at diagnosis and mode of analysis (continuous or dichotomous). Both markers were not useful in predicting clinical, endoscopic, or histologic ulcerative colitis disease activity and radiographic small bowel Crohn disease during follow-up.