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The aim of this study was to evaluate the short- and long-term outcomes of exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) versus corticosteroids (CS) as induction therapy, in a cohort of pediatric patients with Crohn's disease (CD). A retrospective study of patients with CD has been conducted. Clinical characteristics, laboratory parameters, and pediatric Crohn's disease activity index (PCDAI) were evaluated at diagnosis and at different follow-up points. Subjects were divided in EEN-induction group, receiving EEN, and CS-induction group, treated with oral CS. We evaluated 47 patients in the EEN-induction group and 21 patients in the CS-induction group. After 8 weeks from diagnosis, we detected a significant improvement in CRP (p = 0.001) and albumin (p = 0.05), in EEN-induction group compared with the CS-induction group. PCDAI was significantly lower in the EEN-induction group versus the CS-induction group after 8 weeks (p = 0.04) and 1 year (p = 0.03) of follow-up. After 2 years from diagnosis, the number of subjects needing immunomodulators (IMM, azathioprine or methotrexate) was significantly higher in the CS-induction group compared with the EEN-induction group (p = 0.02).Conclusion: EEN has the same effectiveness of CS therapy in induction of remission but seems to have a more pronounced effect on disease activity. In our cohort, the need to use IMM seems to be reduced in subjects initially treated with EEN. What is Known: • Exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) has the same effectiveness of corticosteroids (CS) in the induction of remission in pediatric Crohn's disease. • EEN offers numerous advantages over CS, in terms of improved nutrition and mucosal healing. What is New: • Induction of remission with EEN seems to have a more pronounced effect on disease activity compared to induction with CS. • In our cohort, induction of remission with EEN seems to reduce the need of therapy with immunomodulators at 2 years of follow-up.

Helicobacter pylori infection has been associated in recent years with a number of autoimmune diseases and, in particular, with immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) [1]. This communication is intended as our contribution to the lively debate on the 'state of the art' of these disorders in paediatric patients. The low incidence of H. pylori infection in the paediatric population makes it difficult to gather together enough patients to comprehensively study a possible relationship between H. pylori infection and other diseases. However, a study by Miele et al. in 2004 [4] reported that the seroprevalence rate of H. pylori in southern Italian children was 23% when gastrointestinal symptoms were present and 18.9% when they were absent. Between January and December 2005, we prospectively investigated the prevalence of H. pylori infection and the effect of bacterium eradication on platelet count recovery in children affected by chronic ITP. Our study included 39 children (26 girls and 13 boys) with a median age of 136 months (range: 53–205 months). The eligibility criteria were: (1) thrombocytopenia (platelets

The blue rubber bleb nevus syndrome or Bean syndrome is a rare disorder characterized by cutaneous and gastrointestinal vascular malformations. A 5-year-old girl with Bean syndrome hospitalized in a pediatric unit came under our observation with abdominal pain and vomiting. An X-ray of the abdomen showed an intestinal occlusion and an ultrasonography showed a suspected intestinal invagination. She underwent emergency laparoscopic surgery using three trocars. Laparoscopy revealed a huge ascitis and multiple vascular lesions located on the loops and on the parietal peritoneum, and we identified also an ileo-ileal invagination. We performed a laparoscopic disinvagination that showed one huge vascular lesion producing the invagination and causing a stenosis of intestinal lumen. We performed an intestinal resection after exteriorizing the loops through the umbilicus as well as a termino-terminal ileal anastomosis. Conclusions: Our case shows that an intestinal invagination due to Bean syndrome is extremely rare in pediatric patients but possible. In the emergency, laparoscopy seems to be a safe and effective procedure to confirm the diagnosis and to perform the disinvagination mini-invasivally. In addition, laparoscopy permits to have a clear picture of other intra-abdominal lesions linked to Bean syndrome.