Relationship between nutritional status and histologic findings in small bowel mucosa of children presenting with diarrhoea of more than 14 days' duration.

In order to study the eventual effects of malnutrition on small intestinal mucosa, we evaluated 85 children with diarrhoea of more than 14 days' duration, aged from 4 to 114 months (median 17 months). A proximal small intestinal biopsy was obtained and villus height, crypt depth, mucosal thickness, and total mucosal thickness were measured. Gomez, Waterlow, and Z score criteria were applied. Statistical analyses were performed with the Spearman correlation test and the non-parametrical tests of Wilcoxon, Mann-Whitney, and Kruskal-Wallis. A value of p < 0.05 was considered significant. Average villus height was 269.2 microns (+/- 87.5 microns); crypt depth 113.0 microns (+/- 33.8 microns); mucosal thickness 210.5 microns (+/- 73.2 microns); total mucosal thickness 485.9 microns (+/- 111.8 microns); and villus height/crypt depth ratio 2.5:1 (+/- 0.8:1). Five children had kwashiorkor and 13 had marasmus. Villus height for kwashiorkor children ranged from 151 microns to 353.3 microns (average 286.7 microns), crypt depth from 90.3 microns to 154 microns (average 111.11 microns). According to Gomez criteria, as malnutrition increased, mucosal thickness and the villus/crypt ratio decreased. Waterlow criteria had no relation to mucosal sizes. When distributed in sequential decrease according to their nutritional state, the Z score for weight for age and weight for height indices showed a positive correlation with villus height, total mucosal thickness, and villus/crypt ratio.