[Failure to thrive in young children--disorders of carbohydrate absorption?].

We examined 31 formerly hypotrophic newborn children (birth weight < 5th Kyank percentile) with failure to grow in infancy (weight < 3th Prader percentile). The rates of digestion and absorption of carbohydrates were determined by segmental perfusion of the small intestine and compared to the results of 21 patients with florid coeliac disease. Despite the normal structure of the mucous membrane of the small intestine, the rates of absorption of glucose in 14 formerly hypotrophic children and, additionally, in 12 and 10 of these children, respectively, the rates of hydrolysis of lactose and sucrose were nearly as low as in patients with florid coeliac disease. The reduced absorption and digestion of carbohydrates, respectively, could be a cause of subsequent failure to grow in some of the hypotrophic newborn children.