Table 1 The clinical characteristics of four patients with neonatal-onset watery diarrhea
| Â | Â | Patient 1 | Patient 2 | Patient 3 | Patient 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gender | Â | Male | Male | Male | Male |
Birth weight (g) | Â | 2600 | 3340 | 3020Â | 3300 |
Gestation age (weeks) |  | 34 | 40 | 35 + 5 | 40 + 3 |
Age at onset of diarrhea |  | 10 days |  < 3 days | After birth | 28 days |
Family history | Â | No | No | No | No |
Age at admission to our hospital | Â | 23Â months | 17Â days | Born in our hospital | 42Â days |
Weight at admission (g) | Â | 6800 | 2700 | 3020 | 3518 |
Age at diagnosis | Â | 27Â months | 45Â days | 6Â months | 3Â months |
Weight at diagnosis (g) | Â | 8200 | 2955 | 6700 | 4134 |
Main symptoms | Diarrhea | Watery, 390–1230 g/d | Watery, > 10 /d | Watery, 3–5/d | Watery, > 10/d |
Vomiting | 0–3/d | No | No | Yes | |
Abdominal distention | Yes | No | PMA 24Â weeks-4Â days after birth | Yes | |
Laboratory examination (blood) | Age at examination | 23Â months | 17Â days | 3Â months | 42Â days |
C-reactive protein (mg/L) |  < 8 | 8 |  < 8 |  < 8 | |
WBC (*10^9/L) | 10.68 | 23 | 8.3 | 21.92 | |
ALT (U/L) | 46 | 25 | 39 | 120 | |
Albumin (g/L) | 42.3 | 33.4 | 40.5 | 37.6 | |
pH | 7.35 | 7.29 | 7.59 | 7.14 | |
Chloride (mmol/L) | 97 | 113 | 64 | 131 | |
Potassium (mmol/L) | 4.4 | 3.4 | 2.63 | 2 | |
Sodium (mmol/L) | 136 | 137 | 127.5 | 142 | |
Base excess (mmol/L) | 0.2 |  − 15.3 | 24.6 | –21.8 | |
Complications | Sepsis | 7 Episodes in 1Â year | 1 Episode in 2Â months | No | Yes |
Vitamin D deficiency | Yes | ND | No | ND | |
Liver dysfunction | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
Seizure | Once | No | No | Recurrent | |
Failure to thrive | Yes | Yes | Within 3Â months | Yes | |
Enteral nutrition | Routes | Nasogastric/nasojejunal tube | Per os | Nasogastric tube | Nasogastric tube |
Formula | Peptide-based formula | AAF, eHF | eHF | AAF, eHF | |
Surgery | Â | 1st: Ileostomy; 2nd: Bishop Koop ileostomy; 3rd: stoma closure | No | Resection of 10Â cm ileum, ileocecus and 1Â cm colon; Bishop Koop ileostomy | No |
PN weaned | Â | No | No | Yes | No |
Diagnosis for diarrhea | Â | CTE | CTE | CCD | MVID |
Follow-up |  | Died of blood transfusion reaction at 3.5 years of age | The child’s body weight was 3.3 kg on his first birthday | The child’s body weight was 8.5 kg with nasogastric feeding and supplementation with 8 ml/day 10% KCl at 8 months | Died after discharge |