The aetiology of EHPVO in the majority of patients remains unknown. Sclerotherapy and banding are effective treatments for bleeding varices with good long-term outcome. Procoagulant state is an infrequent cause of EHPVO in children.

Background: The monitoring of the results of eradication treatment is a crucial step for patients with Helicobacter pylori gastritis. A non‐invasive test for H. pylori antigens in stools (HpSA) was recently validated for children. Aim: To evaluate the accuracy of HpSA in monitoring eradication treatment in children. Methods: In 60 children, H. pylori gastritis was diagnosed by endoscopy and the 13C‐urea breath test. The children were treated and returned for a follow‐up 13C‐urea breath test 6 weeks after the end of treatment. Children were considered cured when the 13C‐urea breath test was negative. Stool were collected at baseline, and at 2 and 6 weeks. Stool antigens were measured by HpSA. Results: According to 13C‐urea breath test, 6 weeks after the end of treatment 49 children were cured and 11 were still H. pylori‐positive. The sensitivity and specificity of HpSA on stools collected 2 weeks after therapy were 100%. At 6 weeks specificity was 93.9 and sensitivity 100%. Results by visual reading were concordant with the plate‐reader in all but two cases at baseline. Conclusions: HpSA is accurate for monitoring treatment in children as early as 2 weeks after therapy, when information is most useful and unachievable with other tests. Results by visual reading are accurate, and this can make the test cheaper and more practical.

One-week triple or dual therapy with two antibiotics achieved similar eradication rates. Soon after treatment, symptoms disappeared or improved in most children irrespective of eradication, but epigastric pain recurred in the majority of the still-infected children within 2 years.

Coeliac disease (CD) is one of the most frequent chronic diseases in childhood. The clinical spectrum has changed; in addition to the classical gastrointestinal form, other clinical manifestations have been described, such as hypogonadism and the consequent delay in onset of puberty. Recent studies reported not only a significantly retarded menarche in untreated CD girls as compared with girls following a gluten-free diet, but also in treated CD a negative effect on pregnancy, resulting in lower birth weight and shorter duration of pregnancy. In boys, there is a reduced serum level of dihydrotestosterone and an increased serum level of luteinizing hormone, an abnormality pattern suggesting androgen resistance. The pathogenesis of CD-related reproductive disorders is still unclear. Some hypotheses may be tried; for example, in CD there is a high level of autoantibodies directed against self-antigens, so there could be antibodies directed against hormones or organs critical for pubertal development. Moreover, in CD there could be a selective malabsorption of micronutrients essential for the metabolism of carrier or receptor proteins for sex hormones.

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