JEJUNAL MUCOSAL MORPHOMETRY IN CHILDREN WITH AND WITHOUT GUT SYMPTOMS AND IN NORMAL ADULTS

Nineteen diagnostic peroral biopsy specimens from 18 children without diarrhea, vomiting or abdominal pain (control children) were compared with those taken from 23 children with diarrhea of varying etiology to establish the morphometric characteristics of jejunal mucosa in childhood. Comparison was also made with normal jejunal mucosa from adults. Statistical analysis of each characteristic individual showed no significant difference between the control children and those with diarrhea, but there were significant differences between the mucosae of control children and those of adults: the villi tended to be shorter and the crypts longer in children. Thirty-seven % of specimens from the control children showed a partial villous atrophy, that is, they were abnormal by adult criteria. Discriminant analysis of the features measured showed effective separation of the following groups: normal histology from partial villous atrophy in children, healthy adults from control children and normal histology in adults from normal histology in children.