Malabsorption in Marfan (Ehlers-Danlos) syndrome.

A patient with somatic features of both Marfan and Ehlers-Danlos syndromes presented with severe intestinal malabsorption. Functional intestinal abnormalities were thought to be due to bacterial overgrowth associated with small intestinal hypomotility and giant jejunal diverticula. The structural intestinal defects are presumed to be the result of defective collagen synthesis in these hereditary connective tissue disorders.