Fatal eosinophilic gastroenterocolitis in a two-year-old child.

We report a case of eosinophilic gastroenterocolitis in a 2-year-old child with extensive fibrosis, atrophy of the muscularis propria and involvement of stomach, small bowel and colon. Following an attack of acute gastroenteritis at the age of 15 months the symptoms of ileus persisted. A biopsy of small bowel at the age of 18 months showed numerous eosinophilic granulocytes in the mucosa. At the age of 28 months the child died with paralytic ileus. This is the first case known to us of an eosinophilic gastroenteritis in early childhood with a fatal outcome.