morphine and Ganglion-Cysts

We report our experience of managing eight babies who presented with neonatal intestinal obstruction and whose rectal biopsies showed severely immature ganglion cells.. Neonatal unit records were reviewed to detect patients with suspected Hirschsprung's disease or functional intestinal obstruction. Those with intestinal atresia, anorectal malformation, malrotation, cystic fibrosis and prematurity were excluded.. We identified 73 patients born at term. Twenty-seven did not need a rectal biopsy. Twenty-one had biopsy proven Hirschsprung's disease, while 17 had a normal rectal biopsy. Eight patients, all of whom presented with severe abdominal distension, showed immature ganglion cells. Seven had failed to pass meconium after birth. X-rays in all patients showed distended loops of bowel. Two neonates underwent an emergency laparotomy and a stoma. A repeat biopsy at 3 months showed maturation of ganglion cells and the stoma was reversed. Rectal biopsy was repeated in two other patients 2-9 months after the first biopsy and showed mature ganglion cells. At follow-up, one patient still suffers from severe constipation. Seven are asymptomatic now, including the two patients who needed a stoma.. Immature ganglion cells on rectal biopsy may be an indicator of transient functional immaturity of the intestine.

Topics: Cell Nucleus; Female; Ganglion Cysts; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Intestinal Obstruction; Male; Meconium; Rectum; Retrospective Studies; Surgical Stomas

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a multisystem disorder intrinsically associated with inflammation of mucosal surfaces. Because inflammation can result in enteric neuromuscular dysfunction we hypothesized that terminal ileitis in patients with CF may predispose to distal ileal obstruction syndrome (DIOS).. Full-thickness terminal ileal tissues from 6 children with CF and severe DIOS, 6 infants with complicated meconium ileus (MI), and 6 children with non-CF intestinal atresia were studied.. Lymphocyte-predominant mucosal and transmural ileal inflammation was present in 6 of 6 patients with DIOS. Lymphocytic ganglionitis was present in 4 of 6 although numbers of myenteric neurons were not decreased (5/5). Myocyte proteins were preserved (6/6). Mild submucosal fibrosis was common in DIOS (5/6) and transformation of submucosal fibroblasts to a myofibroblastic phenotype was noted in 4 of 6. Inflammatory changes were distinct from those described in fibrosing colonopathy. Antroduodenal manometry in an individual who had experienced MI/DIOS was consistent with a neuropathic pseudo-obstructive process. Submucosal or transmural lymphocyte predominant inflammation was also present in 6 of 6 infants with complicated MI, which, when coupled with submucosal myofibroblast proliferation (5/6), appeared highly predictive of CF rather than non-CF atresia. Histological findings at birth were similar, although milder, than those seen in DIOS, suggesting that these changes are a primary abnormality in CF.. Submucosal or transmural inflammation of the ileum is common in newborns with CF and MI and older children with DIOS. Severe recurrent DIOS should be investigated with seromuscular and mucosal biopsy of the ileum to seek a transmural ileitis potentially amenable to anti-inflammatory therapies.

Topics: Adolescent; Child; Child, Preschool; Crohn Disease; Cystic Fibrosis; Duodenum; Female; Fibroblasts; Ganglion Cysts; Humans; Ileum; Ileus; Infant; Inflammation; Intestinal Atresia; Intestinal Mucosa; Intestinal Pseudo-Obstruction; Lymphocytes; Male; Manometry; Meconium; Muscle Cells; Myenteric Plexus; Retrospective Studies