Gastrointestinal Findings in Autoimmune Thyroiditis and Non-Goitrous Juvenile Hypothyroidism in Children

Gastrointestinal and immunological studies were performed on 21 patients with autoimmune thyroiditis and 10 patients with non-goitrous juvenile hypothyroidism. The patients had associated diseases as follows: atopic disease (5), agamma-A-globulinaemia (4), diabetes mellitus (4) and collagen disease (3). Achlorhydria was detected in 5 patients, one of whom had a decreased serum B12 level and an abnormal Schilling test. The gastric mucosa was found to be abnormal in 12 patients, including all 5 achlorhydric patients. Gastric atrophy and atrophic gastritis were each detected in 2 patients, and the remaining 8 patients had superficial and/or interstitial gastritis. Antibodies to gastric parietal cells were detected in 8 patients. None of the patients of this series had antibodies to intrinsic factor. The malabsorption syndrome with villous atrophy was found in 3 patients.