Pediatric gastroenterology

Pediatric gastroenterology developed as a sub-specialty of pediatrics and gastroenterology. It is concerned with treating the gastrointestinal tract, liver and pancreas of children from infancy until age eighteen. The principal diseases it is concerned with are acute diarrhea, persistent vomiting, gastritis, and problems with the development of the gastric tract.

Pediatric gastroenterology has grown greatly in North America and Europe. It began with the speciality of pediatrics, which was developed along with children’s hospitals in the 19th century. The concept of specialists concentrating on organ specific specialties started around the same time. A person who contributed to the development of the specialty was Dr. Samuel Gee in London with his focus on serious clinical conditions in children such as celiac disease and cyclic vomiting syndrome. The first national gastrointestinal society was created in Germany in 1920 by Ismar Isidor Boas. He was also the first physician devoted completely to only gastroenterology. Later the American Gastroenterological Association was founded in 1897 by Dr. D. Stewart. The combination to make a pediatric gastroenterological a specialty emerged in the 1960s, almost a century after the specialties of pediatrics and gastroenterology started out individually. All pediatric specialties started out with the concept that children with special needs were not receiving the adequate medical attention that they needed.

Centers for gastrointestinal disorders in children began being established in the 1960s in Great Britain, Australia, and continental Europe. The first centers for pediatric gastroenterology were established by Dolf Weijers and the biochemist Van de Kamer. Pediatricians and biochemists were crucial to the development of such specialty since they created the ability to calculate the fat in the feces of celiac patients with or without gluten. A clinical and research program in pediatric gastroenterology and a gastroenterological research were established in the 1960s at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne by Charlotte Anderson. Later on an important center focused on nutrition and gut pathophysiology was established by Bertil Linquist in Lund, Sweden. This was the first place in which glucose-galactose malabsorption was reported. Pediatric gastroenterology centers in London contributed greatly to this field and hepatology by helping and recognizing multiple doctors with their investigations. An example is Tom Macdonald, who concentrated his immunological research on gastroenterological diseases in children and the use of a fetal intestinal organ culture model. Important pediatric gastroenterology centers were also established in Helsinki and Tampere, Finland. These centers, led by Jamro Visakorpi, primarily focused on celiac disease, gastroenteritis¸ and food allergies. Other important centers were established in Switzerland, under the leadership of Andrea Prader making Zurich one of the first main centers for pediatric gastroenterology. In that same center, David Shmerling started studying gluten elimination and celiac disease. Salvatore Auricchio along with Giorgio Semenza began comprehending and identifying sugar absorption disorders in children. Ettore Rossi in Berne founded centers in which Beat Hadorn and Michael Kentze, who later went on to establish German centers in Munich and Bonn, which made great contributions in the research of absorption pathophysiology. After working in Zurich, Salvatore Auricchio went on to establish an important center in Naples which focused research on celiac disease, the physiology of absorption, and oral re hydration therapy. In a center located in Brussels, led by E. Eggermont and Helmuth Loeb, Samy Cadranel started developing the concept of endoscopy in children.

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Wikipedia