Ultrasonographic findings in children with acute enteritis and Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection

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Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) is a small bacterium with a high prevalence worldwide. Infection is usually asymptomatic or presents only as an upper or lower respiratory tract infection, but a wide variety of extrapulmonary manifestations can also occur. Nearly 25% of patients with MP infection have gastrointestinal complications including anorexia, nausea, vomiting, and transient diarrhea attesting to the tropism of that agent for the intestine. Furthermore, MP have been suggested as organisms of ubiquitous distribution potentially causing inflammatory diseases, including IBD, in susceptible individuals. We report a case of an unusual pediatric ileal enteritis caused by MP infection. A 6-year-old boy, without relevant past medical history, was admitted to the hospital with urticarial rash, vomiting and abdominal pain. US abdominal examination showed gastrointestinal tract involvement; the clinical course and the laboratory assessments finally led to the diagnosis of a MP infection successfully treated with antibiotic therapy. Therefore, our patient was discharged in good general clinical conditions with diagnosis of ileal enteritis caused by MP infection. To our knowledge, US enteritis imaging correlated to MP infection have not been previously reported in the literature; so, we are the first to document with US imaging this unusual intestinal manifestation of MP infection and its evolution after antibiotic therapy.