[Collagen gastritis, an unusual cause of anemia in children. Report of 2 cases].

UNLABELLED: When a child presents a severe anemia or resistant to iron supplementation, an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy has to be realized to find special causes.

CASE REPORTS: We report observations of two patients, respectively 11 and 12 years old, who were admitted to hospital for a severe microcytic, hypochromic, aregenerative anemia (hemoglobin less than 50 g/L) due to an iron deficiency. The two children's history did not reveal a deficient diet, gastrointestinal tract disorder, ingested toxic or gastrotoxic drugs, or exteriorized hemorrhage. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy showed a macroscopic pattern of gastritis. The stomach biopsies revealed subepithelial collagenous deposits.

CONCLUSION: The collagenous gastritis involves lesions similar to those described in the small intestine (collagenous sprue) and colon (collagenous colitis). The pathogenic factors of the three entities are presently unknown, but they are often associated with autoimmune pathology. These two observations are the third and the fourth pediatric cases described.