Idiopathic bile acid diarrhoea reconsidered.
Two new cases of a rare entity provisionally coined 'idiopathic bile acid diarrhoea' are reported and compared with previous cases. The diarrhoeal syndrome has been identified as a cholegenic enteropathy. In the absence of conventional ileopathy the cause of the bile acid loss is obscure, but it is hypothesized that it may be due to a relative deficiency in ileal absorptive sites for bile acid anions. So far the diagnosis has partly been based on measurements of faecal bile acid losses. It is suggested that a carefully conducted therapeutic trial with cholestyramine may be almost equally helpful.
D000368:Aged; D001647:Bile Acids and Salts / Q000032:analysis*; D002792:Cholestyramine Resin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism*; D005243:Feces / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged
D001647:Bile Acids and Salts; D002792:Cholestyramine Resin