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It is thought that Helicobacter pylori infection may influence growth rate in children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of H pylori infection in healthy Italian children, and to look for diVerences in height between infected and non-infected subjects. Two hundred and sixteen children, aged 3 to 14 years, were tested for H pylori infection by 13 C-urea breath test. Centile values for height were calculated. Composite indices for socioeconomic class and household crowding were also determined. Forty nine of 216 children (22.7%) were H pylori positive. The prevalence of infection increased with age. Eight of 49 H pylori positive children (16.3%) were below the 25th centile for height, compared with 13 of 167 H pylori negative children (7.8%). This diVerence became significant in children aged 8.5 to 14 years; in this group (n = 127), eight of 31 infected children (25.8%) were below the 25th centile for height, compared with eight of 96 noninfected children (8.3%). A significant correlation was found between socioeconomic conditions, household crowding, and H pylori status. By using stepwise logistic regression, only the centile value for height was significantly related to H pylori status in older children. Thus H pylori infection was associated with growth delay in older children, poor socioeconomic conditions, and household overcrowding. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that H pylori infection is one of the environmental factors capable of aVecting growth.

The UBT is an accurate non-invasive diagnostic tool and can be used to predict both the intragastric bacterial load and the severity of related gastritis.

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Our findings support the hypothesis that, at least during childhood, H. pylori infection may be a fluctuating disease with spontaneous eradication and possible recurrence.

development of complications was reported. CONCLUSION:The therapeutic strategies were extremely heterogeneous. Ursodeoxycholic acid was ineffective in dissolution of gallstones but it had a positive effect on the symptoms. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy was confirmed to be an efficacy and safe treatment for pediatric gallstones. INTRODUCTIONIn the last years following the extensive use of ultrasound scanning an increasing number of children with cholelithiasis has been identified. In a population based study, prevalence of gallstones and biliary sludge in children was of 1.9% and 1.46%, respectively [1] . In an analogue study, performed in Italian adults, the overall prevalence of gallstones diseases was of 9.5% in men and 18.9% in women [2] . Gallstones disease is the most common and costly of all digestive disease in the United States, resulting in 700 000 cholecystectomies and as many as 1 000 000 hospitalizations annually [3] . The frequency of hospital admission and operation for gallstones increased in Western countries since the 1950s [4] . In England the age-standardized hospital admission rate for cholelithiasis enhanced from 68.7 to 104.9 per 100 000 population between 1989/1990 and 1999/2000 and it increased progressively with age from 1.1 per 100 000 in the 0-14 year age group to 277.1 per 100 000 in the ≥ 85-year age group in 1999/2000 [5] . Guidelines for management of cholelithiasis are available for adults. Cholecystectomy is recommended for

Although the efficacy of penicillamine and zinc is well documented, it is notable that a subset of children with Wilson's disease-related liver disease (36%) had hypertransaminasemia despite appropriate treatment with penicillamine or zinc.

BackgroundRecent GWAs and meta-analyses have outlined about 100 susceptibility genes/loci for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). In this study we aimed to investigate the influence of SNPs tagging the genes/loci PTGER4, TNFSF15, NKX2-3, ZNF365, IFNG, PTPN2, PSMG1, and HLA in a large pediatric- and adult-onset IBD Italian cohort.MethodsEight SNPs were assessed in 1,070 Crohn's disease (CD), 1,213 ulcerative colitis (UC), 557 of whom being diagnosed at the age of ≤16 years, and 789 healthy controls. Correlations with sub-phenotypes and major variants of NOD2 gene were investigated.ResultsThe SNPs tagging the TNFSF15, NKX2-3, ZNF365, and PTPN2 genes were associated with CD (P values ranging from 0.037 to 7×10−6). The SNPs tagging the PTGER4, NKX2-3, ZNF365, IFNG, PSMG1, and HLA area were associated with UC (P values 0.047 to 4×10−5). In the pediatric cohort the associations of TNFSF15, NKX2-3 with CD, and PTGER4, NKX2-3, ZNF365, IFNG, PSMG1 with UC, were confirmed. Association with TNFSF15 and pediatric UC was also reported. A correlation with NKX2-3 and need for surgery (P  =  0.038), and with HLA and steroid-responsiveness (P  =  0.024) in UC patients was observed. Moreover, significant association in our CD cohort with TNFSF15 SNP and colonic involvement (P  =  0.021), and with ZNF365 and ileal location (P  =  0.024) was demonstrated.ConclusionsWe confirmed in a large Italian cohort the associations with CD and UC of newly identified genes, both in adult and pediatric cohort of patients, with some influence on sub-phenotypes.