Infantile refsum disease: gastrointestinal presentation of a peroxisomal disorder.

This article describes two siblings with infantile Refsum disease (IRD) whose initial presentation was that of malabsorption and mimicked a-beta- or homozygous hypo-beta-lipoproteinemia. Failure to recognize IRD in the first-born child precluded proper genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis in subsequent pregnancies and also caused considerable delay in diagnosing IRD in the second child. The clinical heterogeneity of peroxisomal disorders constitutes a diagnostic challenge, which demands a high degree of awareness from the part of the clinician. This is particularly the case with IRD, where protracted diarrhea with low serum cholesterol levels appears to be a frequently occurring initial feature during the 1st months of life.